Smashing Spring Days of Youth
by Younger P
Summary: Join the (mis)adventures of Ness, Villager, Toon Link, and Lucas upon his return as they go about in their everyday lives at Smash Mansion, from daily mundane-made-awesome errands to settling problems in Smash!
1. Breakfast Beginnings!

**I've been meaning to start this series earlier, but outside classes and obligations took hold of me. Right now, I have free time to catch up on my stories, including this new one. I've just been fascinated by these three characters as best friends. I might have mentioned at some point that this reminded me of past friends in elementary, by which most of the future chapters may be based off of.**

 **Well now, time to start!**

* * *

The crowing of a random Cucco was loud and shrill as usual, alerting the area of the rising dawn. The bright sun was rising over the horizon, showering the grand Smash Mansion in its morning rays. The sunlight entered all the windows facing its direction, shining upon the rooms of the various Smashers occupying them.

The story would commence with the awakening of a young boy in his preteen years. He felt the warm light of the sun rest upon his closed eyes and forehead, pressing him to awaken. He struggled underneath his blanket covers, concealing his entire body save for his messy raven-black hair and mumbling something about getting up in five minutes to his mother, who was presently not around.

This young hero was none other than Ness, the PSI Powerhouse.

" _*Yawn*_ … Time to wake up," his roommate, Toon Link, muttered as he arose from his bed and threw off his covers.

Clad in his signature pajamas of an ocean blue shirt with a white lobster print, along with sun orange pants, Toon Link tumbled out of bed and lazily swayed his way towards their personal bathroom.

As if on cue, their bathroom opened up, revealing their third roommate to be fully dressed up in his usual attire of a red shirt with a blue number-one print and charcoal gray shorts.

"Good morning, Toon Link!" Villager greeted, having been clearly freed from morning drowsiness symptoms in contrast to his groggy Toon Hylian friend.

"… Hey," Toon Link replied back with a halfhearted wave, shuffling past the young Mayor of Smashville and into their bathroom.

Villager merely smiled in amusement, having been accustomed to this routine ever since he was invited to be part of Super Smash Bros. He loved meeting new people and making friends with everyone, just as he done back at his hometown. As such, he enjoyed being roommates with Ness and Toon Link upon settling in.

He looked to where his bed was, being the top bunk over Toon Link's bed, and decided to make it. The noise of spreading out his blanket covers and arranging them neatly was enough to finally stir Ness awake.

"… Knew this was coming," Ness mumbled, immediately sitting up to watch Villager pull the head of his covers upon his pillow. "It's hard to sleep in with you always waking up so early, Villager."

"I just can't help but take care of this," Villager replied as he finished up. "Do you want me to make yours?"

"It's cool, but thanks," Ness answered with a warm smile.

Even though it was clear that Villager would be the most responsible out of the three, there were still benefits of being friends with the young mayor. Ness looked up to the ceiling. There used to be a top bunk over his bed, similarly to Villager and Toon Link's bunk bed set.

The top bunk that used to be over Ness's bed was where Lucas slept before he left the Smash Mansion for reasons unknown. This, of course, had greatly upset Ness when Super Smash Bros. began anew as he lost someone he shared many common grounds with. It also didn't help that Popo and Nana, along with Pokémon Trainer Red, were not coming back either despite the latter's Charizard still hanging around. However, his newfound friendship with the easygoing Villager along with Toon Link's return was enough to help Ness cope with the losses of old close friends.

"Anyway, I'm going out to pick fresh fruit from the garden before breakfast," Villager announced as he was about to exist. "Hope to see you guys at the table soon."

Ness nodded and saw Villager off, watching the main door close. He needed the bathroom, which Toon Link was using right now to clean up. Most rooms in the Smash Mansion were like this, a group of three to four occupants with their own bathroom so that they wouldn't have to wait for a public one to be open despite there being a few just out in the hallways. Ness was internally thankful for the Hands making this renovation for this new installment.

He then stared at the various objects in the room while waiting for the bathroom, ranging from his own pile of clothes on the floor to Toon Link's sword and miscellaneous weapons by the closet to Villager's personal desk decorated with Nintendo-themed collectable knickknacks and stacks of mayoral paperwork sent in from his secretary back home, Isabelle.

Sometime between five to ten minutes…

The bathroom door flew open with steam dissipating upon exit. Toon Link emerged with his pajamas under an arm, clad only with a green towel wrapped around his waist and strangely enough, a smaller green towel wrapped around his blond hair.

"Man, that felt good," Toon Link sighed in contentment.

"About time, I was about to fall back asleep," Ness joked, kicking his legs to the side of the bed. "Why do you need a towel for your hair anyway? It's not that long."

"I'm taking better care of my hair this time after seeing the _Hyrule Warriors_ incarnation of Ganondorf," Toon Link replied simply as he found his standard green tunic. "I don't know what products he uses for that mane of his, but I'm going to prove that I can have awesome hair like his."

"But he's _evil_ ," Ness pointed out.

"That doesn't mean you aren't allowed to look fabulous," Toon Link retorted while dressing up and discarding the towel once undergarments were in place.

"Since when did you start caring about how you look?" Ness inquired. "And 'fabulous'? Link won't like it at all if a bit of Ghirahim is rubbing off on you."

"… I thought it'd be cool to try out, alright?" Toon Link responded, getting exasperated with all these ridiculous questions. "Anyway, you should get going. Villager probably wants us to meet with him down for breakfast as soon as it starts."

With that said and done, the Wind-Waking Warrior made one last adjustment on his pointy hat before making his way to the exit, bidding adieu to Ness as Villager did before him. The young boy with PSI powers stared at the door for a few moments before shrugging it off and getting off his bed.

"Hopefully he didn't use up all the hot water," Ness mumbled to himself before taking care of his personal business in the bathroom.

It took him roughly the same amount of time in the bathroom before emerging refreshed and ready to start the day. Equipping himself with his usual blue-and-yellow striped shirt, blue shorts, beige backpack, and red baseball cap, Ness was ready to enter the hallways and navigate his way down to the dining hall.

Upon leaving the bedroom, Ness found Rosalina, Fox, and Olimar walking together and conversing with Kirby jumping up from behind in an attempt to play tag with a mischievous Luma and a trio of Pikmin hanging along. Not too far behind was the pair of Palutena and Lucina chatting modestly about honor and ethics. They were followed by Pit, who had a cheerful arm upon the shoulders of his brooding clone, Dark Pit, who attempted to mentally drown out the incessant blatherings of his 'brother'.

The décor of the hallways were the same everywhere. They were regal and grandiose as one would find at a typical high-class castle, the color scheme composed of the bright passionate colors of red, blue, and purple together with the Smash Ball emblems placed about for personal tastes.

"Ness, you're finally up!" an animated voice chirped up right next to him, surprising the PSI Powerhouse from the sudden greeting.

"Hey there, Diddy," Ness chuckled. "Good morning to you, too."

"Your roommates already up?" Diddy asked.

"They went ahead of me and I'm going to join them," Ness replied.

"Let's head down together then!" Diddy suggested eagerly. "Donkey Kong is probably waiting for me too."

"Okay."

Ness and Diddy Kong followed the other Smashers that were heading in the direction of the dining hall, seeing more and more fighters join the route along the way. The two of them were joined by Mega Man along the way and strangely enough, Lemmy Koopa came along while balancing upon a bouncing circus ball.

"What's up with him?" Mega Man spoke aloud concerning the smallest Koopaling. "Doesn't he usually ride a Clown Car like the rest of his brethren?"

"They don't necessarily have to," Diddy answered. "It's only during battles that they do have to use their Koopa Clown Cars."

"Sometimes I wonder what goes on in his head," Ness added. "He just seems so different from Bowser Jr. and the other Koopalings."

"Aren't you also telepathic, Ness?" Mega Man asked. "You could probably find out about him if you did try to read his mind."

"I'm kind of scared to," Ness admitted, looking away. "Mind reading is not as easy or as awesome anybody thinks. Depending on the person or being you'd be trying to mind read, you might get affected by their thoughts. Lemmy just doesn't seem stable enough for me to attempt a safe reading on his mind."

"So you think you might go crazy if you look into Lemmy's mind?" Diddy surmised.

"That's a good possibility, which is why I would avoid the likes of Ganondorf when possible," Ness said with a quick shudder. "Ugh… He's called the 'King of Darkness' for a reason."

"But didn't your last adventure entail defeating a cosmic entity of pure evil in order to prevent the universe's destruction?" Mega Man queried.

"Not going into that right now," Ness answered with a huff.

Feeling that they might have been putting him on the spot for too long, Diddy and Mega Man conversed amongst themselves to let Ness have some peace. Lemmy joined in on them despite the very recent scrutiny of his bizarre childlike mentality. Being more familiar with the smallest Koopaling due to participating in Mario Kart events alongside him, Diddy was the one who welcomed him into their morning group.

It felt like the introductions were cut short as distinctive voices and chatter rose in volume. Their group had just arrived in the dining hall with the majority of Smashers simply talking amongst each other around the long table. Ness glanced about, quickly discerning his equally young and diminutive friends of Toon Link and Villager at their seats. But just before he left his traveling group…

"Lemmy, what are you doing with those primitives?" a pompous voice chilled the air.

Ludwig von Koopa, along with the five other Koopalings, were off to the side, appearing displeased with their missing clan member. They also were attending breakfast without the use of their standard Koopa Clown Car models. Lemmy immediately appeared sullen, hopping off his ball and rolled it along with him back to his clan.

"You should've known better that Prince Jr. forbade you from associating with those brats," Wendy O. Koopa scolded.

"Yeah, them brats being Ness, Toon Link, and Villager," Morton Koopa Jr. added.

"Don't know why exactly he has it out for those particular three, but orders are orders," Iggy Koopa finished with a shrug. "Even just one of them seems to set him into a tantrum."

"Sorry, guys," Lemmy said, scratching the back of his head. "I was bored and I wanted to play."

"You should've just stayed with us then," Larry Koopa pointed out. "I'm sure one of us could've entertained you. Then again, anyone but those three Morton said would do."

"I didn't know!" Lemmy answered, feeling shameful.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Ludwig stated more as a sarcastic response than genuine curiosity. "It's not like Jr. has ordered us time and time again whenever we got together to avoid those three, or at best, prank those three… hard."

"Hey, fellas, lay off the little guy, alright?" Roy Koopa finally spoke up for Lemmy's defense. "We're all just hungry and waiting for breakfast. We'll deal with Lemmy's punishment later, deal?"

The Koopalings exchanged glances with one another before coming to a consensus. Being the leader of the Koopaling clan, Ludwig decided on Roy's suggestion before gesturing his brethren to follow him to their king and prince at the table. Ness, Diddy, and Mega Man had witnessed the whole event and merely stared at the wake in awkward silence.

"I… don't know what to say to that," Mega Man commented.

"Lemmy definitely didn't deserve to be ganged on like that," Diddy voiced, frowning. "Sure, he and those Koopalings have been at odds with the Mario Brothers from time to time, but that doesn't mean he deserves such bad treatment. I actually feel sorry for the kid."

"I hear you, Diddy," Ness said. "The worse part was he got yelled at just because he was around me. He'd probably get his ears chewed off if he was also caught around Toon Link or Villager. Don't know why, though."

"It's probably just Jr. being a brat," Diddy scoffed. "I know for a fact you three never did anything on him, so he's probably just trying to pick on you guys or something."

"We do get into prank wars with Jr. and the Koopalings at times," Ness admitted, scratching the back of his head underneath his cap. "I figure it's just what kids do, you know, and they're evil, but after actually seeing how much Jr. is against even having Lemmy be around me, there's got to be something else going on."

"Right, but let's not worry about it for the moment and get something to eat because I spy DK by that pile of bananas," Diddy announced, eyeing his mentioned direction with a ravenous look.

"I'm going to see what R.O.B. is up to," Mega Man shared.

"Okay, catch you guys later," Ness waved Diddy and Mega Man off as he went off and joined his roommates.

Once all the Smashers, including distinctive alternates like Alph and the Koopalings, were present at the dining hall and had taken their seats, Master Hand and Crazy Hand emerged from a dark portal from their huge ceiling and stationed themselves at the head of the table. It wasn't often that they would join the Smashers for breakfast, but when they did, a big announcement was on the way.

"Good morning, Smashers!" Master Hand greeted proudly, receiving morning felicitations back by the more polite and well-mannered Smashers sitting close to them.

"We got us some big news, don't we, Bro?!" Crazy Hand cackled, which worried some of the Smashers.

"Please don't tell me that one of us is going to get-a cut!" Luigi cried out.

"False!" Master Hand immediately answered. "None of you are going anywhere, at least not at this crucial time! We're in the middle of our season now and we've come this far!"

"I bet we're having a big tournament this time with a huge prize," Falco remarked.

"'Huge prize,' you say?" Wario repeated, listening on with absolute attention. "Go on."

"You must be a secret psychic user, Falco, because that happens to be ONE of our two major announcements for today!" Master Hand responded.

"Speaking of 'psychic users,' Bro, should we?" Crazy Hand suggested.

"We'll save it for last, dear brother," Master Hand replied, patting the destructive left hand. Ness raised a brow after hearing Crazy Hand as certain thoughts rang like bells in his mind. "Anyhoo, let's get started with the first major announcement! As Falco as spoiled, we will be having a tournament with a grand prize!"

As on cue, the Smashers' table erupted with loud cheers, eager to face one another in battle. It was also no surprise that the loudest cheers came from the openly greedy fighters. Master Hand then gestured them all to quiet down.

"Excellent work, Bro," Crazy Hand tittered.

"This tournament, however, will be a very unique one as it will be the first of its kind!" Master Hand continued grandly. "This will be a team tournament! And not just any team tournament! This will be a multi-team tournament! Lost yet? Now that we have opened up Eight Player Smash, teams can have up to four members! That's right!"

"More than _two_ members!" Crazy Hand emphasized, holding out two fingers before attempting to extend his middle and ring fingers out for a total of four.

The majority of Smashers listened on with awe and rapture. Master Hand was right that this would be the first time any of them would compete in a tournament with more than one teammate.

"Now listen close!" Master Hand resumed. "You are all welcome to join forces with anyone you see fit in helping you take home the gold! We encourage branching out of the people you're already familiar with in your own universes! We've decided not to do randomization this time around as an experiment. However, there is one condition I must point out when creating your teams. Distinct alternatives, specifically Alph and the seven Koopalings, can only serve as alternates for their main Smasher representatives! This means that if Olimar or Bowser Jr. are unable to attend to their battles or choose not to, then you have the option to play in their place instead!"

"Fine with me," Alph answered casually.

"We'll play along with your rules for now, Master Hand," Ludwig spoke up, rubbing his claws together sinisterly. "That alone won't stop the Koopa clan from being on top."

"No foul play!" Master Hand warned, extending a pointing finger at close range in front of the Pompous Prodigy. Ludwig fainted back on his chair from the sudden shock. "While villains are allowed to team up with each other, any underhanded hack will result in immediate disqualification!"

"Don't worry about it," Bowser assured gruffly. "My minions and I are willing to play fair, right Jr.?"

"We sure will, Papa!" Bowser Jr. agreed.

"I doubt we would even need to cheat if we have to face these weaklings," Ganondorf chuckled, prompting many glares upon himself. "Heh, good… Throw all your anger upon me. Make this game a bit more interesting for me."

"Excuse me, Master Hand," Zelda called out. "I'm wondering what about the alternative forms of Samus and myself."

"We've allowed you and Sheik to play separately instead of transforming mid-battle thanks to our almighty magic!" Master Hand reviewed. "This also extends to animating Samus's suit to function on its own accord during battle! But for the case of this tournament, you can alternate between those forms if you so wish!"

"Well, that's great to hear and all, though I'm kind of curious about the situation with Dr. Mario," Samus, clad in her Zero Suit, interjected.

"That… is a very special case," Master Hand explained. "As Mario didn't magically change into his doctor persona during the middle of battles in the past through a special move or Final Smash, Dr. Mario has been made into his own character and thus, is valid to be a separate team member!"

"Plus, we need someone to watch the clinic twenty-four seven!" Crazy Hand interjected.

"Speaking of such things, Mario!" Master Hand resumed. "See me in my office after breakfast to discuss 'certain things'!"

"I understand," Mario replied with a nod.

"Lastly, sign-up sheets are just outside the dining hall!" Master Hall concluded. "Write your team name and members and slip the sheet into the box, where Crazy Hand and I will collect and make the first round matchups as soon as possible! They are due by the end of the day!"

"Now for second announcement!" Crazy Hand interrupted eagerly.

"Now Smashers, we are pleased to welcome back a fighter from the past!" Master Hand announced, garnering full attention from everybody. "We finally came to the decision to let this fighter return after much consideration and to make our future Smashes more interesting!"

"A veteran, eh?" Shulk mused.

"Is it Pichu?" Peach asked.

"It's got to be Wolf," Fox commented grimly.

"Snake?" King Dedede suggested.

"Roy's back?!" Marth spoke in amazement.

"I'm over here," Roy Koopa guffawed, waving over to the Hero-King, prompting said swordsman, along with Ike, Robin, and Lucina to lower their heads in embarrassment.

 _Lucas?_ Ness thought hopefully.

"Out of all the suggestions, Peach's was close!" Master Hand declared. "Isn't that cute?"

"Really?!" Peach responded, surprised that she got it right.

"BUT IT'S _WRONG_!" Crazy Hand bellowed, frightening the Mushroom Kingdom Princess and other Smashers with weak constitutions into reclining into their chairs. "Bro?!"

Master Hand then floated back a few meters before snapping his fingers. On cue, a bright violet light emerged from the head of the table where the Hands were, taking the form of a tall white creature with a long purple tail, a second spinal cord connecting between the back of the head and the nape, and an ever surly expression on his face.

"Mewtwo strikes back!" Master Hand ultimately declared.

Cheers and applause followed to welcome the Genetic Pokémon back into the ranks of Super Smash Bros. Being the designated head of the Smashers by the Hands, Mario stood out of his seat and approached the stoic Psychic Pokémon.

"Mewtwo, it's been-a forever!" Mario exclaimed jovially. "I imagine all this time you've-a gotten stronger."

" _I have, Mario,_ " Mewtwo replied coolly through telepathy. " _I am honored to be welcomed back to face the strongest fighters you have to offer. I also look forward to seeing how you fare in battle now and if your battle style has changed since our Melee days._ "

"Likewise," Mario replied, offering a handshake to which Mewtwo accepted before retracting his hand back into an arm fold.

"Mewtwo, do you have any lasting remarks before you join your fellow fighters in their morning feast?" Master Hand asked.

" _I will say this,_ " Mewtwo began, floating high enough for all to behold his reawakened glory. " _Every last one of you here is now my rival! Bring your true strength to me so that I may conquer and prove my superiority as the strongest Pokémon!_ "

" _What a savage, if not arrogant, heart,_ " Lucario remarked to himself.

"Uh… Very well put!" Master Hand concluded. "Mewtwo has put his challenge out there! In addition, any of you are welcome to recruit him to your team for the upcoming multi-team tournament!"

" _It does not matter to me as long as I get to face the mightiest warriors, be they a hero, a villain, or an anomaly,_ " Mewtwo added before floating down to an empty spot by the table.

"Now that all the major announcements have been taken care of, Smashers, enjoy your breakfast!" Master Hand declared as he and Crazy Hand vanished in a flare of purple flames.

The breakfast feast resumed as normally as it did with the Smashers snagging various food items and putting them on their plate, albeit with a few exceptions. Such exceptions mainly revolved around Mewtwo's return as the Smashers sitting around to him began to bombard him with various questions on where he's been and so on.

"Cheer up, Ness," Toon Link spoke up, cutting up his eggs with a fork. "Since Mewtwo was allowed back in, chances are that Lucas could make a comeback as well."

"I'd like to meet Lucas if he ever comes around, Smasher or visitor," Villager offered, pouring for himself a glass of fresh apple juice.

"Thanks, guys," Ness replied. "I guess we're already a team of three. Should we attempt to find a fourth member?"

"We can go ask around for stragglers after breakfast when registration begins," Villager suggested. "We have until the end of the day to submit our form."

"It sounds like you don't have to participate if you don't sign up, though," Ness pondered.

"I think Master Hand wants all of us to participate, so he might probably assign anyone who isn't on a team registration form into an incomplete team," Villager said thoughtfully.

"We also don't necessarily need a team of four," Toon Link pointed out.

"Yeah, but we probably won't last against full team of four if it's just us three," Ness indicated. "Everyone here has their unique strengths and are practically on even ground."

"I wonder what the teams will be composed of," Villager mused. "It'd be fun to find out how one Smasher's style compliments the rest of the team."

"Well, whatever we decide to do or who we face, this should all be fun," Ness surmised, slipping in a piece of maple waffle into his mouth.

* * *

 **I'm aware of the Lucas DLC coming June 2015. What will I do once he officially returns? We'll find out later in the story. Anyway, this story series will entail various adventures with Ness, Villager, and Toon Link with the tournament being a side story. Don't know if I want and should include the Mii Fighters as their own team, only because they're bland like the Polygon and Wired Fighters from the previous installments (and are the only way for players to have the characters they want, in the form of a Mii, to fight as). In any case, this is just my fun entry into the** _ **Smash Bros.**_ **directory.**

 **I also hope the Hands were just as hammy here as the Announcer was for the game. That voice actor did an excellent job narrating the 50-Fact Extravaganza quite a ways back.**

 **Please review!**

 **L-ater!**


	2. Gardening With Alph!

**Wow, I'm really late in updating just as the big news has come in regarding new Smash Bros. DLC. Regardless, I'm going to stick with my plans, though I did have to make some changes in future chapters regarding the ones just added to the current roster (I'm not going to speak of them until it's time for their debut here).**

* * *

Ness stared intently into the team form held inches in front of his face. Villager and Toon Link were at either side of him, exchanging peculiar looks before gazing upon the paper as well.

The form was simple. On the top was a box for the team name. Below that box was a large box divided into four even slots. They were to hold the names of the participating Smashers in the team. So far, only three out of the four slots were written, holding the names of Ness, Villager, and Toon Link.

So who would be their fourth?

Breakfast was done and over and every other Smasher was pairing up into teams. Being as curious as he was, Villager glanced over to see what other teams were being formed around them.

"Mama mia," Luigi sighed, walking along side Yoshi from the dining hall. "I wanted to be in Bro's team, but apparently Master Hand had-a different plans for him."

Yoshi placed a hand on the Man in Green's shoulder, attempting to comfort his long-time friend. He, too, was upset that Mario had been assigned to a team by Master Hand as part of 'promotional purposes,' or however the Hands had worded it.

"Hey, you two!" Ike greeted with a wave. "Looking for a teammate?"

"Ike?" Luigi questioned, clearly confused. "But I thought you'd-a be with Marth?"

"Master Hand wanted us to go out and meet new people, and Marth was already taken in by Link along with Shulk," Ike explained, looking away with lingering amusement. "I could've been the fourth, but Zelda had clung to Link the whole time, so I'm out of luck. Crazy girl… What about you?"

"I couldn't get to be with my Bro, b-but I think it'd be cool if we were… um… teammates?" Luigi suggested bashfully, receiving an earnest pat on the head by the Radiant Hero.

"It'd be an honor working with you, Luigi," Ike said with a confident smile. "So right now, it's you, me and Yoshi?"

"That's-a right!"

"Then look no further, because I just happened to have our fourth teammate."

Ike then looked up and gave a side gesture with his head. Something, or rather someone, came diving down upon them in a swift strike. After recovering from the aftershock of the encounter, the fourth member brushed his cape back and looked up to see his new team.

"M-M-Meta Knight?!" Luigi stuttered in amazement. "You'd t-t-team up with me?"

"I have no preferences on the beings I wish to be around," Meta Knight replied darkly. "I enjoy a good fight with worthy opponents, though with a bit of more training, you could appear to be more confident in yourself."

"That settles that then," Ike concluded rather cheerily. "Let's sign up."

Villager blinked a few times in disbelief. He certainly wouldn't have imagined a team combination between two of the most docile fighters in green and the pair of rough, battle-hardened swordsmen. He also had the opportunity of overhearing who was in Link's team just from watching the previous spectacle.

The young mayor then glanced about to see more future team possibilities. He found Peach and Rosalina together, getting to know Jigglypuff and Kirby. Rather, Rosalina's Luma was getting to know Kirby even more by playing another wild game of tag while Peach daintily extended a cup of tea to the Balloon Pokémon.

Palutena and Lucina appeared to be even closer now that they seem to have presumably paired up into a team. Of course, where the Goddess of Light was concerned, Pit was close by, watching the two women at a distance with an envious look while strangely enough, Greninja appeared to be tapping him on the side of his head for some reaction. Villager wondered what happened with Dark Pit if he wasn't going to be with Pit and Palutena.

Pikachu was walking alongside Samus and R.O.B. That was another unusual team combination, though Villager remembered Ness mentioning Pikachu and Samus's unique bond during their Subspace adventure quite a ways back.

The last team Villager managed to get a glimpse before the members left was that of Fox and Falco taking along Olimar and Charizard for the ride. Their team was bound to have some fiery, yet unpredictable combinations.

"Villager, pay attention!" Ness called out, his voice calling the Mayor of Smashville out of his thoughts. "We won't be able to come up with our fourth member if you can't focus with us."

"I doubt that'll matter," Toon Link muttered. "Everyone seems to have already found a team to be in."

"What makes you say that?" Ness asked.

Toon Link sighed before motioning to the PSI boy to look around. Ness had no more comments upon discovering that they were the only ones left in the hall while the other Smashers had gone their way after forming their teams. He felt himself sweatdrop in a short moment.

"We'll find a solution," Villager assured, walking away.

"Where are you going now?" Toon Link inquired. "Do you know someone who'd fill in?"

"No, but I did promise Alph that I'd help out with his fruit garden after breakfast," Villager explained. "This whole tournament completely sidetracked me, so I'm heading to the garden area in the back now. I'll catch you guys at lunch!"

He then ran off, leaving his friends in a rather awkward silence. A few seconds, along with a cold wind, had passed through the hall where Toon Link and Ness still stood as they were left behind watching Villager's wake.

"… Uh-huh."

"He cares too much about helping others," Ness remarked in an attempt to break the awkward silence. "We need to teach him how to be selfish for once."

"And how do you plan on corrupting him?" Toon Link asked wryly. "It still takes you over ten minutes to find matching socks."

" _Five_!" Ness corrected as his right eye twitched.

* * *

 _At the garden…_

"Thanks again for helping with the harvest, Villager!" Alph exclaimed, carrying a large basket filled with a variety of fruit. "My people back at Koppai will thrive forever more."

"It's not a problem," Villager replied, stuffing a filled basket into his limitless pockets. "Growing a variety of fruit-bearing trees is my specialty on top of fishing and bug-catching."

"All that _and_ running a town? How do you do it?"

Villager shrugged before picking a couple of fresh oranges from a nearby tree he grew for Alph, handing one over to the Koppai ship engineer.

"Just good at it, I guess."

"I wish I could go back to the slow life again," Alph sighed wistfully. "But the S.S. Drake crew needs me."

"The slow life is always nice, but sometimes I wish I can have my own big adventure like you and most of the other Smashers here have," Villager admitted. "I've been asking stories from Ness and Toon Link on their adventures so that I can imagine what it was like being in their shoes when it came to saving the world."

"It's not as easy as you think it would be," Alph said. "The fate of huge populations even greater than that of your village would be riding on your shoulders for survival. My crew and I have to make sure we have enough fruit for Koppai to survive, though I have to get extra for Brittany. I know she keeps trying to sneak extra rations for herself, so hopefully with this amount will satisfy her hunger."

"Who's Brittany? Your girlfriend?"

"W-What?! No! Sh-She's just…!"

Alph stumbled over his next set of words and became a bright red, incoherent mess while Villager watched on, confused over his over-the-top reactions to his questions. While the engineer attempted to sort himself out, Villager polished his orange against his shirt.

"Was it something I said?" Villager mused, concerned for his Koppai friend.

"Man, look at all this fruit!"

"You can feed twenty islands with all of this!"

Villager spun on his heels to see Ness and Toon Link walking in from behind, admiring the bountiful harvest. A shocked expression momentarily took over his face. He certainly didn't expect his friends to just show up in the garden, much less express any sort of interest over it.

"What are you two doing here?" Villager inquired. "I thought you were still trying to find another member."

"Trying to remember who's already on a team and who isn't is too hard," Ness drawled. "I thought about finding Mewtwo after you left, but I don't think we need another psychic on board. That would be cramping my style. And most likely, some lucky team must've convinced him by now to join them."

"Besides, we wanted to see how you work in the garden," Toon Link added thoughtfully. "You said you come here every other morning to help pick fruit for breakfast."

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you guys to look around," Villager pondered. "Just be careful. This is Alph's portion of the garden and every piece of fruit here means a lot to him."

"He sounds like a bigger health nut than you and Wii Fit Trainer combined," Ness snickered.

"I'm not a health nut, I just sometimes have problems trying not to think of friends back home when eating… certain foods," Villager reasoned, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Details, details," Ness waved off, looking at Toon Link. "Let's explore this place a bit more."

"Yeah!" Toon Link exclaimed as both young boys ran off before Villager could say anything more.

"Don't worry, my fruit garden will be fine," Alph reassured, walking up to the Mayor of Smashville. "I have Pikmin stationed at every corner of my fields, so they'll make sure they won't cause trouble."

"If that's the case," Villager resumed, holding up his orange while Alph followed suit. "To a successful harvest!"

"For the people of Koppai!" Alph added, bumping his orange into Villager's before they consumed the result of hard labor down their throats.

* * *

 _A few minutes later…_

"Okay, I'm bored now," Ness hummed, approaching back to the center of Alph's garden where baskets of his harvested fruit were. "It's pretty much similar to Villager's… village."

"When you see one garden, you've pretty much seen them all," Toon Link surmised with a shrug. "What do you want to do now? It looks like Villager and Alph left."

Ness placed a hand under his chin in a way that would make Dr. Mario proud, pondering over what else to do early this day. There was the possibility of going back on finding their fourth teammate, but that was too much hard work to do right now.

"Want to play baseball?" Ness suggested.

"Sure! But we don't have a full team."

"Then how about we just practice with our pitches and batting before getting our team?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Okay. I'm up to bat then."

Ness handed over a handful of baseballs from his backpack to Toon Link before he retreated into a fair distance away into an open pathway, steering clear of Alph's crops and Pikmin as he did. Toon Link stored the baseballs into his pouches, leaving one out to prepare for his pitch.

"Ready to strike out?" Toon Link taunted.

"Bring it, Greenie!" Ness demanded, pointing his bat into the distance.

The Wind-Waking Warrior wound up his arm with the intent of throwing the ball as if it was one of his bombs. He first threw a powerful straight shot, but Ness was quick enough to land a hit on it. However, his reaction time was not quick enough to hit it hard, so it wound up tumbling to the side a few meters away from Toon Link.

"Not bad, kid," Toon Link muttered, smirking. "Try this on for size!"

Their rounds continued on. At the beginning, Toon Link attempted to overwhelm Ness with power pitches, but the PSI Powerhouse was quick enough to catch on to his tactics before hitting one out of the garden and right into one of the Smash Mansion's windows.

 _*CRACK*_

"What the?! My window!" Lucina's voice irately echoed from inside the room. "Where did this strange orb come from?!"

Ness and Toon Link blinked several times out of shock and fear. The Pikmin around them looked at the shattered window with curiosity. Before the two young boys decided to run away and destroy all traces of having played baseball in the garden, they both mentally agreed on doing one more pitch and hit.

Though in his panic, Toon Link wound up reaching into his bomb pouch, grabbed something round, and quickly tossed a curve ball without looking at what he actually threw. Ness, equally distressed, did not see the distinctive features of Toon Link's toss that he swung and knocked it straight into a direction.

It was only after Ness landed a hit that they both noticed that it was one of Toon Link's bombs that was pitched and hit.

Right into Alph's collected fruit.

 _*BOOM*_

The baskets of fruit had been incinerated by the blast's impact. The mouths of Ness and Toon Link were left hanging. This just wasn't their day. First the window, and now the fruit for Koppai.

A loud shriek interrupted their guilty thoughts. They found the source to be Alph, who just came back to the garden to see months of hard work up in smoke. Villager also looked on in shock, though clearly not as stressed out as Alph was.

"What did you two do?!" Villager asked, horrified by the damage.

"Well, Ness suggested that we practice playing baseball," Toon Link began rather casually. "So I pitched and he batted. He knocked one ball into Lucina's window and then knocked a bomb I threw into Alph's−Gah!"

Toon Link collapsed.

"You bonehead," Ness muttered, brandishing his bat before placing it back into his backpack. "Why did you even use a bomb anyway?"

"What gave you the idea of playing baseball in Alph's garden?" Villager continued.

"Eh, I was bored?" Ness offered tentatively, holding his hands up in surrender.

Villager had actually mustered up a menacing glare that intimidated Ness into a frightened mess before backing off with a heavy sigh. He then saw Toon Link trying to stand back up, recovering from the bonk Ness left on his head just recently.

"As if I didn't have enough brain damage already," Toon Link mumbled, clasping a side of his head with a hand.

"Anyway, I'm not that one you should be apologizing to," Villager pointed out, looking at Alph's direction.

"… I… I needed that fruit today," Alph said between gasps. "Today I was supposed to ship all of it back to Koppai… I ship them out every month… … I can't grow all of this back today!"

"I thought Koppai was doing well after you extracted the seeds from the fruit you collected from the Pikmin Planet," Ness said.

"It was, for a short time," Alph explained. "We collected enough fruit for our planet to survive, but our base instincts of overeating overrode our desires of changing our lifestyles. In short, we had a relapse, so now that I'm here with Super Smash Bros., Master Hand promised me a large portion of the garden area, including his and the other Smashers' help, in growing a lot of fruit for my people."

"So basically, we just endangered Koppai with the destruction of your shipment," Ness surmised, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.

"I guess 'sorry' is not about to cut it, is it?" Toon Link added with a bashful grin.

"What am I going to do?" Alph contemplated with a heavy sigh.

"Since you two are the cause of this, we're going to take responsibility and fix this ourselves," Villager announced.

"Wait, 'we'?" Ness repeated.

"I'm not letting you guys fall because of this," Villager stated. "Besides, it's my own fault for not keeping an eye out for you two. Ness, you and your crazy plans get you in more trouble than they're worth. And Toon Link pretty much goes along with whatever you tell him."

"You got me there," Ness chuckled lightheartedly.

"But how are we going to grow the fruit back in one day?" Toon Link inquired.

"We'll just have to be creative somehow," Villager mused, folding one arm over his chest while placing his other arm over it to rest his chin upon. "I still have a bunch of fruit tree seeds on me and I can grow them instantly, but that won't be enough to replenish Alph's losses."

"Hey, I got an idea!" Ness proclaimed, prompting everyone to look at him in surprise. "A good one, I promise!"

* * *

 _And so…_

Ness's idea turned out to be as creative and successful as Villager hoped and more.

For the next couple of hours, Ness focused on each individual tree and used his PSI powers to help them carefully grow back the fruit while making sure no adverse side effects came from doing so.

Toon Link used the mystical properties of the Wind Waker baton to create small storm clouds to water the fields and age other portions of the garden to help them naturally bear fruit through the manipulation of time and weather.

Villager handed over a spare watering can and half of the amount of seeds he had to Alph and the both of them planted and instantly grew new fruit trees over an empty plot of land. Of course, Villager had to chop down the previous trees in order to make room for the new ones.

Finally, Alph had his Pikmin collect the fruit once they have grown to maturity and place them in blast-proof crates. The Koppai ship engineer learned his lesson this time, especially when it came to these three youths, though more in particularly, he had to be weary of Ness and Toon Link specifically.

It had been time consuming and exhausting for the most part, but the efforts of the four combined managed to recreate all of the lost fruit plus some additional harvests. Koppai should be well off for another month, possibly even longer now.

They all gathered outside of the S.S. Drake, Alph's ship. The Pikmin worked together in loading up the collected fruit into the ship. Alph, Villager, Toon Link, and Ness looked on with exultant smiles.

"Thanks to all of you for your hard work in producing even more fruit for my planet," Alph said graciously. "Of course, this wouldn't have been necessary if I didn't lose the first load in the first place."

"I'm glad we can help out and all, but I learned my lesson," Ness groaned, attempting to straighten out his back.

"I'm so tired," Toon Link mumbled, who was already face first into the ground.

"At least we were able to make it up to you and your people, Alph," Villager added. "I hope you have a safe trip to and back."

"Thanks," Alph replied, waiting for the last group of Pikmin to bring the food in. "I don't think Olimar needs me at this time to sub for a match any time soon, so I'll be back the next day."

With all said, done, taken care of, and forgiven, Alph boarded his ship and prepared for departure. Ness, Villager, and Toon Link waved good-bye to the Koppai engineer as his ship flew up to the sky and vanished in the twinkling of an eye.

"I'm hungry," Toon Link spoke up, rubbing his thin stomach. "Is it lunch yet?"

"I think so," Villager responded, attempting to determine time through the sun's current position in the sky.

"We were here working in the garden for so long, I really need something to eat and drink," Ness said, taking his cap off and wiping the sweat off his forehead with it.

"Nice idea," Villager concluded, walking alongside his friends back into the Smash Mansion. "Then maybe we can resume looking for a new member for the rest of the day?"

"Deal. Hey, Villager, do you know what teams have already formed?"

"I saw some Smashers getting together after breakfast, but I don't know if they've made it official yet."

"Did you ask Alph if Olimar is already part of a team?"

"I saw Olimar with Fox and Falco, so I think he might already be on their team."

"Dang it!"

"This is going to be a long day," Toon Link mumbled, placing both hands on his needy belly.

As the three of them went inside and made their way to the dining hall to see what was being served for lunch, they did not notice as they passed by an enraged blue-haired swordswoman making her way towards the garden's direction.

 _Whoever broke my window without owning up to it is going to pay dearly_ , Lucina thought, gripping the baseball in her fist as tightly as she could.

* * *

 **I had to change up some teams due to the DLC. Of course, the four-man team tournament is still the side story and is only used to unite characters together. I'm pretty sure most of you can guess who would be our main trio's fourth member, but unfortunately, it'll be a few chapters before I include in the up-to-date content and make the teams official.**

 **And so, thus ends the episode of gardening with Alph.**

 **Please review!**

 **L-ater!**


	3. Firework Follies!

**I managed to make this for the Fourth of July. I should've been far along with this by now, but things continue taking my attention away. It can't be helped, but I still hope you all enjoy the chapters to come.**

* * *

"Yeah! It's here at last!" Ness cheered loudly. "The day's finally come!"

"I don't get it," Toon Link responded. "What's special about this weekend?"

"He might be excited for the fireworks tonight," Villager offered. "I remember on certain days and weekends like this, my town celebrated with what was known as the Fireworks Show. I didn't understand too much behind it aside from it being fun to celebrate with poppers, sparklers, and even recently having the chance to design your own fireworks."

"Exactly!" Ness exclaimed. "You get me so well, Villager! There's nothing better than to celebrate the Fourth of July with some good, old-fashioned, red-blooded firecrackers bursting in the night sky! Eagleland!"

The three of them were out in the spacious backyard of the Smash Mansion, watching the other Smashers set up various wooden booths and decorations to celebrate this particular day. Villager and Toon Link didn't understand what was so important about July 4, but at least according to Ness, it was a big thing to celebrate that day with colorful fireworks and junk food.

Of course, no one could really go wrong with fireworks unless they somehow mess up and blow themselves up to kingdom come.

"I'm guessing that the booths are also for tonight's activities?" Toon Link surmised from the current observations.

"That's usually one of the more traditional ways of celebration," Villager explained. "Maybe we can have a booth of our own."

"I liked that idea of yours in designing your own fireworks display," Ness suggested.

"But I don't think we're in charge of the fireworks… or even authorized to be near them," Villager replied with uncertainty.

"Yeah, remember Ness batting a bomb into Alph's fruit?" Toon Link jested. "Ha ha! I still have stitches looking back at it."

"Idiot! That's because _you_ threw the bomb at me instead of a baseball!" Ness retorted. "Besides, that chapter was posted a ways back now. It's old news!"

"'Chapter'? Huh?" Toon Link repeated.

"I don't think we should mention anything to him about chapters or readers," Villager whispered into Ness's ear. "He probably had no such encounters in his last adventures."

"Encounters with what?" Toon Link question, barely hearing the last part of Villager's sentence. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Don't worry about it," Villager waved off. "Let's just see if we can have our firework design booth approved."

"Besides, Pit and Palutena had demolished the fourth wall long ago," Ness snickered under his breath as his other two friends were leaving, giving you a surreptitious wink. "All of them."

* * *

 _A few moments later…_

"I'm afraid I'll have to deny that request of you three managing a firework design booth," Master Hand concluded. "It's not you, Villager. It's more on your friends, really."

"I guess I can understand that," Villager answered, guiltily scratching the back of his head. "But I can manage the booth on my own."

"Hey! What about us?" Ness demanded. "We never abused explosives before! At least outside of battles!"

"Hmm, let's see," Master Hand began with amusement. "I don't need to remind you of the mishap you caused Alph."

"Why does everyone seem to keep bringing it up?" Ness whined while Toon Link patted his back.

"There was also the incident where you hid tiny firecrackers in Ganondorf's curry last week, the time you sent a PK Fire on Rosalina's special bomb flower from Zelda, and need I bring up the 'rancid accident'?" Master Hand pressed on.

"That was all Toon Link!" Ness retorted. "He wanted to do a prank he came up with so we let him!"

"Yeah, that backfired big time," Toon Link admitted nonchalantly. "You also forgot to mention breaking Lucina's window."

"Wait, _you_ broke Lucina's window?!" Master Hand questioned. "It took hours to calm that woman down! I'm a busy entity of creation and master of Smash, not a part-time window repairman!"

"Way to go, Toon Link," Ness griped, slapping a hand onto his forehead.

"Moving on, the mentioned offenses and more altogether is also reason why I'm not allowing Villager to manage the firework design booth alone, regardless of how diligent he is," Master Hand explained. "He was, unfortunately, your accomplice in all of them."

"So now what do we do?" Villager asked.

"I'll tell you what," Master Hand proposed. "Your idea for firework design would no doubt be a hit activity among the other Smashers. During the festivities, we'll have a couple of Smashers I deem responsible enough to be in charge of overseeing the firework designing and we'll provide the basic firework kits. Our kits should not accidentally go off and will only ignite under our authorization, so you all are free to use your powers to magnify your designs. Sound good?"

The three young Smashers exchanged glances with one another, coming to a silent agreement regarding Master Hand's plan for the evening. Ness stepped up to deliver the final response.

"We'll take it," Ness affirmed.

* * *

 _From within the nearby bushes…_

Bowser Jr. and Larry were spying on the three young fighters that had just gotten an approval of doing a firework design activity from Master Hand for tonight's festivities. The Koopa Prince was fuming at the sight of them so happy and successful.

"Those big-shots think they can run this stupid summer festival the way they want it to," Bowser Jr. protested.

"Um, sure?" Larry spoke, shrugging.

"Well they won't!" Bowser Jr. resumed.

"Okay then," Larry said casually.

"So here's what we're going to do to mess with everyone's fireworks so that we come out on top," Bowser Jr. began. "Time to get the other Koopalings!"

With that said, the two of them swiftly left their bush hiding spot to find their fellow mischievous comrades to begin plotting the festival firework takeover.

* * *

 _That evening…_

The Smash Mansion backyard was buzzing with activity in celebration for this day. For food, Mario, Charizard, and Ike were behind the grill, or rather grills to feed everyone. Several Smashers like Peach, Rosalina, Little Mac, Wii Fit Trainer, Meta Knight, Robin, and R.O.B. were considered responsible and trustworthy enough to lead the various food and activity booths scattered about.

And of course everyone else was free to go about and play.

"You know, I'm actually glad we're not in charge of a booth," Ness admitted, finishing off a stick of cotton candy he got. "Then we couldn't play with the other booths. Woo! Freedom! Eagleland!"

"Dude, you're way too into this," Toon Link muttered, exasperated by the PSI boy's overbearing spirit for the day. "Though I have to ask what's up with _that getup_ , Villager. I mean, I thought Mario's stars-and-stripes outfit was over the top."

In place of his casual shirt and shorts, Villager was wearing a fine robe of an exotic and rather foreign style. It was mostly colored as red as his shirt with blue lining, trimming, and sash. White stars were lined along the trimming. He also had wooden geta sandals with white socks on his feet.

"It's a summer festival robe Isabelle sent to me just for this occasion," Villager explained, taking a drink from a small bottle of root beer he got from Mega Man's refreshments booth. "I said I would wear it for her and I think it looks cool. I just need to send some pictures over to her on me having fun in her designed robe. She does so much for me. I wish she could've come too."

"Not going to judge, but it's certainly… old-school?" Toon Link replied.

"Let him wear what he wants, Toon Link," Ness intervened, waving it off. "Freedom of wearing whatever you want! Or _not_ wearing what you want! Boo-yah!"

"I'm hoping he does not run off naked after that," Villager whispered worriedly.

"I think he told me he was naked in some dream near the end of his adventure," Toon Link responded quietly. "I think it was after getting the last melody or something."

"Hey, I think we're getting off topic," Villager spoke aloud. "Let's find out about the firework design. I think I heard that Link and Luigi were placed in charge of it."

"This should be fun," Ness commented.

The three of them explored further through the yard, passing some of the game and snack booths that they already played in and waved to the owners of said booths. As Villager had predicted, they found Luigi and Link standing in front of a small sitting crowd composed of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Fox, Falco, Zelda, Palutena, Pit, Olimar, Shulk, Kirby, and Bowser Jr. The two green-clad Smashers wore white apron uniforms, signifying their authority given from the Hands to lead the activity.

"O-kay!" Luigi cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "… How does this start again?"

"It's simple," Link chuckled briefly. "Alright, everyone. Hopefully the reason you're here is because you want to submit designs for the fireworks tonight. Master Hand and Crazy Hand have left me and Luigi in charge of helping you all out with your firework designs. So you all are welcome to partner up or work solo in making designs. Then when you've gotten something figured out, hand them over to me or Luigi and we'll make the final preparations. Any questions? … Yes, Palutena?"

"I've got a couple, actually," Palutena began. "My first question is if we're allowed to use our powers to influence the designs."

"To a certain extent," Link answered. "This is why you're first submitting your final designs to either Luigi or me. We make sure you guys don't go overboard with the setup and executions. Does that answer your question?"

"Yep," Palutena replied cheerily with a wink. "My second question is this. Do you want to work together with me?"

"Hey!" Pit and Zelda cried out, affronted by the Goddess of Light's lighthearted suggestion.

"Uh, I feel like I'm already working with all of you," Link said sheepishly, holding his hands up to usher down any rising tension. "As Master Hand's representative for this activity, I can't really show favoritism."

"So does that include Zelda?" Palutena teased, much to the Hyrulean Princess's mortification.

"Really, for someone in your position to be playing that kind of game," Zelda muttered, struggling to hide her blush before taking a deep calming breath. "You heard Link. He and Luigi will be helping us all equally."

"Come now, Zelda, lighten up," Palutena continued playfully. "Being goddess reincarnate yourself, you're entitled to whatever you desire. This fine Hero of Hyrule isn't a bad choice. Of course, if you continue stalling…"

"Now's not the time to discuss this!" Zelda warned, surprising herself with her lack of tact just now. She looked up at Link, who was now sporting a blush of his own and appeared to be fascinated with Meta Knight's goldfish-catching game booth nearby. _Great… Now he's embarrassed of me._

"I guess I've been stepping a bit out of bounds," Palutena intervened to prevent further embarrassment for her fellow female Smasher. "No hard feelings, right Zelda?"

"Err… right," Zelda mumbled.

"Oh, Lady Palutena," Pit sighed.

The Captain of her Guard knew how much she can be quite a handful towards other people. He was already used to her toying with him from time to time, but he was worried if the other fighters wouldn't take her antics with stride like him. Zelda was typically the mature and powerful figure she always carried herself to be, but as a mortal, she was still prone to human matters. Her temper, when pushed far enough, was particularly frightening.

"Can we get on with this?" Bowser Jr. interrupted impatiently. "My fireworks will blow all of yours right out of the sky."

"Um… Y-Yeah, let's-a go!" Luigi quickly agreed as to appease the Koopa Prince.

"Okay everyone, here's what you need to do," Link began.

He and Luigi guided everyone into their provided kit. They had recommended that they would first draw out how they want their fireworks to end up as. With the overall design as the basic foundation, that would be the time to apply the actual physics in making the fireworks turn out how they wanted. It helped that both Link and Luigi had a particular proclivity for pyrotechnics from their adventures, Link from his bombs alone and Luigi regarding his various fiery power-ups.

The groups were our youth trio, the Kongs, the Star Fox pilots, Zelda alone, Pit and Palutena together, Olimar and his Pikmin, Shulk and Kirby, and finally Bowser Jr. alone. Of course, no one had suspected that Bowser Jr. was getting secret help from the Koopalings as part of his devious plan.

He had Ludwig and Iggy on standby in the shadows, waiting to tamper with the others' fireworks at every chance they get. Roy and Morton were on backup. And Wendy, Larry, and Lemmy helped in gathering special materials for Bowser Jr.'s fireworks.

A couple of hours had easily passed beyond everyone else's notice. All of the groups had placed the finishing touches on their customized fireworks and had been directed to a safe, open area away from the Smash Mansion and the ongoing festivities as to launch them when the time came.

"We came up with some awesome designs, didn't we?" Ness asked. "I can't wait to see these in action!"

"This definitely reminds me of home a lot," Villager commented.

"I just want to blow some things up," Toon Link simply confessed.

"Methinks the reincarnated kid Link is not too far off from the older generation," Ness whispered slyly to Villager.

"Might be a Hyrule Hero thing," Villager added with a shrug.

"Why do I get the feeling you guys are making fun of me?" Toon Link voiced.

"Now you know how I feel every time someone brings up me blowing up Alph's fruits," Ness replied.

"But I thought you didn't want to talk about it anymore," Toon Link responded.

"I don't!" Ness clarified heatedly.

"I think you guys are hungry," Villager intervened. "I know! Let's grab some yakisoba from Robin's stand. I think that should be enough."

"Yakisoba?" Ness repeated. "What's that? And what about the hot dogs and French fries? They're an Eagleland classic!"

"Eh, he might have those too," Villager assured with a bit of uncertainty.

"Villager does have a point, though," Toon Link concurred, starting to run back to the main festivities area. "I'm starving! Let's see what's still available. I hope I can snag another root beer bottle before older me does."

"I have a couple of unopened bottles left stored in my pockets," Villager offered as he and Ness went after the Hero of Winds.

"I want a fresh cold one!" Toon Link yelled back.

Though before Toon Link could get his desired drink and some food, Bowser Jr. dramatically jumped in his way, backed up by Roy Koopa and Morton Koopa Jr. Toon Link instinctively pulled out his sword and shield while Ness and Villager caught up to him and prepared for the confrontation.

"And just where do you children think you're going?" Bowser Jr. demanded haughtily.

"Not now, Jr.," Toon Link warned. "I want food and I want it now."

"And I want revenge against those pranks you three losers pulled on me weeks ago," Bowser Jr. retorted. "No one, and I mean _no one_ , outpranks me! Got it?!"

"We get it," Ness spoke up in Toon Link's defense. "You're being a sore loser about it. Are you going to cry to daddy about it now?"

"Ness, isn't that a bit too much?" Villager asked, concerned, only to be waved down by the Koopa Prince.

"That's right, go ahead and laugh," Bowser Jr. egged on. "I'm not going to need Papa's help for this. I made this plot all by myself and I got these guys backing me up."

"You got this, Jr.," Roy cheered.

"They won't know what hit them when you're done with them," Morton guffawed.

"What are you going about now?" Ness inquired wearily.

"I was wondering when you slowpokes would ask," Bowser Jr. mocked, snapping his fingers.

From the signal, Ludwig and Iggy leapt out of their hiding places in the shadows and joined their Koopa brethren against Ness, Villager, and Toon Link. They were the only two out of them that were in their standard Koopa Clown Cars.

"A brilliant plot by Prince Jr. that surpasses even my own intellect," Ludwig began. "Let's just say that every time you fools looked away from making your firework designs, Iggy and I seized the opportunity to meddle in your affairs and change them."

"What did you do to them?" Villager asked, displaying a rare trait of anger.

"With my trickster black magic, I made it so that when the fireworks you slaved over for the past hours go up, instead of showing what you labored for, they'll instead shower the skies with King Bowser's greatness," Iggy explained, all the while cackling maniacally.

"How dare you!" Villager threatened, stepping in front of an astonished pair of Ness and Toon Link. "The fireworks design activity was for others to express what they wanted in the form of colorful fireworks. You had _no_ right to take that way from any of us!"

"I can do whatever I want, and that's that," Bowser Jr. scoffed. "Like I'm going to take some kid in a glorified bathrobe seriously."

"That 'kid in the glorified bathrobe' happens to be my friend," Ness intervened, pulling out his bat with a dangerous look in his eyes as he joined Villager by his side.

"We're not letting you get away with this," Toon Link added, joining his two friends to help them in the foreseen battle.

"It's five-to-three," Roy pointed out.

"Think you can take on all of us?" Morton challenged.

"You probably should call in your remaining Koopalings for an even match of eight-to-three," Ness shot back, smirking.

"That's it!" Bowser Jr. fumed. "You asked for it!" He then turned to Ludwig and practically shouted the order in his ear. "Call in the others _now_!"

"Uh… A little problem, Jr. sir," Ludwig replied, poking into his ear that suffered from Bowser Jr.'s sonic scream. "Lemmy wandered off and so, Wendy and Larry are out looking for him."

"Graaahh!" Bowser Jr. screeched, stomping his foot and puffing out cinders of smoke from his mouth. "I'll deal with him later! Just take these three goody-goodies down!"

"Roger!" the four present Koopalings responded dutifully, engaging into action.

Ness and Toon Link took on Roy and Morton while Ludwig and Iggy chased after Villager, who was able to backflip pretty well despite wearing wooden geta. Having full access to their Koopa Clown Car capabilities, they tossed up a barrage of Bob-ombs in the air in an attempt to blast the young mayor into oblivion.

Determined to end this quickly, Villager easily caught two Bob-ombs and used his unique ability in throwing them back at twice the power. Ludwig and Iggy were not prepared for his sudden counterattack, and as such…

 _*Kaboom*_

"Why are we blasting off?!" the both of them cried as they were sent flying into the stratosphere.

 _*Twinkle*_

"What just happened?!" Bowser Jr. questioned.

"You shouldn't have made Villager mad," Ness taunted, pushing back Morton with his bat.

"You wouldn't like him when he's mad," Toon Link continued, bashing his shield into Roy's face, forcing him to back off as well.

All three of them were close together as Ness and Toon Link, soon joined by Villager, surrounded them. The three Koopas' worried expressions turned into smirks as Bowser Jr. revealed his last trick in the form of two Bob-ombs in his hands.

"Think fast, losers!" Bowser Jr. goaded, throwing his Bob-ombs while thinking he had the jump on them.

Underestimating their abilities ultimately proved to be his folly. Ness reacted in time to bat one back at them while Villager Pocketed and returned the other Bob-omb. To go with their counterstrike, Toon Link pulled out his own blue bomb and threw it in the mix.

"Not good," Morton whimpered.

"Not in the face," Roy cried, covering his face with his arms.

"My Papa will hear about this!" Bowser Jr. swore.

 _*KABOOM*_

"This feels bad!" Bowser Jr., Roy, and Morton yelled as they were sent soaring high as Ludwig and Iggy before them were.

 _*Twinkle*_

With their threat gone, the young heroes managed to take a breather before realizing that they needed to get Master Hand to fix the damages done to the other's fireworks. Luigi and Link came in and had revealed that they were prepared for the possibility that a villain like Bowser Jr. was probably going to sabotage the fireworks, so they had backups of the original fireworks prepared in that likely event.

The other firework participants came in and were thankful for Ness, Villager, and Toon Link in stopping Bowser Jr.'s evil plans. It didn't take a lot of time to get the desired firework designs back before their launch time. And when that time came, a lot of the creative designs were seen for all in the brilliant night sky above.

The Kongs had theirs take the form of their beloved banana hoard.

Fox and Falco were able to design their fireworks after their Arwings, including the special sparkling effects behind to imitate the G-force afterburners.

Zelda had created fireworks in the shape of the Hyrule royal crest and the Triforce… as well as a heart? Maybe she did get some 'special help' from Link after all…

Palutena and Pit were creative in theirs by making funny caricatures of their faces. The Goddess of Light also skillfully manipulated their designs to make it as though they were talking to each other before she and Pit gave them actual dialogue for the entertainment of the other fighters. Just like the good old times. Dark Pit wasn't interested until he saw one purple fireworks design that also said 'Pittoo' below it. He then went from indifferent to royally vexed at the two of them.

Olimar made floral and Pikmin designs for each of the known Pikmin. He originally knew five, but Alph had long ago revealed to him the existence of the Rock and Winged Pikmin. The red Pikmin design, in particular, used actual red Pikmin and they seemed to enjoy it as much as their viewers did.

Shulk didn't have a preference for his designs, so he made his and Kirby's into various food shapes like a curry plate, apple, and even a glass of lemonade.

Bowser Jr.'s firework, designed in his own image, was still kept as a show of good sport. It was certainly extra flashy from the materials gathered by Wendy, Larry, and Lemmy, to say the least.

Finally, the designs by Ness, Toon Link, and Villager went up to display. It first erupted into the shape of a red planet with continent outlines, resembling Ness's symbol. It was then followed by three smaller explosions from the top, left, and right, forming three forest green leaves that took on Villager's symbol. Lastly, a massive light green firework took place further beyond the present design, taking the form of various squiggling lines that resembled wind blowing.

"Zelda already had the Triforce design in hers, so of course I'm not going to copy her," Toon Link reasoned.

"You did awesome, mini me," Link applauded, patting his younger reincarnation on the head. "All of you did!"

Luigi then started the applause for the fabulous fireworks display, in which everyone else joined with him. Master Hand and Crazy Hand clapped with each other until they heard shouts of 'Encore!' In this case, they snapped their fingers and copies of the previously shown fireworks were instantly created and sent up in the air for a second viewing.

All in all, this night turned out well.

Except…

"I never got to eat or get my root beer!" Toon Link panicked, running off and ravaging the other booths for wanted sustenance.

"Should we stop him?" Villager asked.

"Let him do what he wants for tonight," Ness assured, waving his hands up in the air. "Woo! Let our freedom ring!"

* * *

 **I might have missed the actual day to post this, but at least I managed to get it done within the weekend. I hope you all had enjoyed the Fourth of July. And for those that don't celebrate it, I hope your weekend was awesome regardless.**

 **Please review!**

 **L-ater!**


	4. Tributes and Teammate Training!

**I hope you all have been enjoying your summer so far. Much has happened, have you not noticed? I mean with your daily lives among other things you'd be paying attention to.**

 **I don't know why I'm rambling now. Anyway, please read on.**

* * *

The current cast, minus the three that will make their appearance at some point, had gathered around a simple, yet profound monument honoring one of the greatest deities they have ever known. It was significant enough that they even brought their friends and loved ones from outside the Smash Mansion to be able to share and remember this solemn occasion.

Even the villainous characters had ceased their usual brand of mischief and declared an official truce among themselves at this time.

Regarding the main trio…

Ness was holding onto Paula's hand as she wept while struggling to keep a straight face himself as to be strong for her. He couldn't help it. He had his baseball cap in his other hand out of respect as well. Their other two friends, Jeff and Poo, were not available, but they still offered their sincere condolence through the latter's telepathy.

Villager was working on consoling Isabelle, who came in as his guest. She had completely buried her face into his chest and wetting his favorite shirt with tears, yet her lamentations were still clear and ringing along with the other mourners. He held his Balloon Trip hat with a free hand and stared at it contemplatively.

Toon Link was able to bring both his little sister and his pirate friend as guests, all three of them having different reactions to the incident. Like a good portion of other sentimentally prone characters, Aryll sobbed loudly while her big brother reassured her that everything will be well again. Tetra attempted to remain indifferent as to not soil her tough pirate reputation, but allowed herself to shed some tears over this event and allowed her heart to be touched by her Link's dedication.

Master Hand and Crazy Hand, without the crazy, rose up in the air in perfect harmony before the whole audience before the monument. It was time to get things going.

"We are grateful for all of you to come this day, as late as it seems," Master Hand began. "We felt that a proper tribute should be made for the great Satoru Iwata here."

"Pay your respects to the man that made your lives the way they are, for better and for worse," Crazy Hand picked off with remarkable eloquence.

As such, the Smashers and their guests arranged themselves in an orderly line. Mario, being the head of everything as usual, was the first to pay his respects along with Luigi and Princess Peach, leaving a large golden Star upon the monument as their parting gift. Yoshi and Rosalina were next to follow, leaving an egg and a bag of Star Bits.

The trend continued with each group of characters leaving behind unique items that came from their worlds, such as Bowser Jr. leaving a self-made painting with his Magic Paintbrush and Samus departing a helmet from one of her older power suits. Some had opted to go the traditional route of leaving flowers behind, which was perfectly acceptable anyway.

When it was Ness, Villager, and Toon Link's turn, they prepared their gifts. Villager offered to cover all three of them with three gold roses in a pot, but Ness and Toon Link turned it down as they had their own items to share. So Villager and Isabelle placed the potted golden roses next to Mr. Game & Watch's old handheld. Ness departed his first baseball bat next to Duck Hunt's zapper gun and Kirby's first apple from Whispy Woods while Paula watched over fondly. By a Poké Ball that had a half gold and the other half silver, Toon Link left a slingshot that he and Aryll used to play with, as well as a few gold pieces courtesy of Tetra…

Not that she would ever admit owning up to it.

The memorial was concluded as the third-party group composed of Sonic, Mega Man, and Pac-man paid their respects despite not being as involved as the main cast was. In any case, they were still grateful to be a part of this great experience.

"And so the memory of Mr. Iwata lives on," Master Hand concluded.

"Time to resume your daily lives after this quick moment of silence," Crazy Hand added.

…

…

…

They then rose and distinctively clapped together twice.

 _*Flash*_

* * *

It was another normal day at the Smash Mansion. With all the mourning, tributes, and respects paid and done, everyone was able to focus on their regular lives and reach up to their character potential as they were meant to be.

This was to bear in mind of the enjoyment and hardships shared among each other from all of the journeys they have gone through.

So moving out from the sentimentality, Ness and Toon Link were walking down the hallway and discussing the upcoming multi-tag team tournament coming up fairly soon. The paper work had been sent in and evaluated by the Hands.

However, they left a rather cryptic message before departing with the team forms in regards to potential team changes before the tournament would begin.

"I really don't know, man," Ness said. "We haven't actually practiced team combinations and I'm not sure how our powers can mesh."

"We have to start training if we want to stand a chance," Toon Link suggested earnestly. "We're still short a member. We're already familiar with each other's strengths and weaknesses. And I've already tried out combinations with him, so it's your turn to see how you and Villager match up together."

"Well, you might be right, surprisingly," Ness remarked. "Villager and I do have similar bodies and physical stats. I'm still wondering how my PSI can work with all those tools he pulls out of his pockets."

"But don't you use bats and yo-yos to fight?" Toon Link inquired. "Those are kind of the same thing. And plus, I've seen his slingshot KO more opponents than your yo-yo has since I've known you."

"Keep talking like that and I'll test that theory on you," Ness warned, pulling out his yo-yo in a tightened fist.

"All I'm saying is that you need to give Villager a chance now that he's joined our posse," Toon Link repeated, holding his hands up to calm the PSI Powerhouse down.

"Since when did _you_ become the voice of reason?" Ness asked with a skeptically raised brow. "That's usually Villager's job when either one of us get out of hand."

"Villager is back in our room doing his mayor paperwork and someone's got to do it," Toon Link admitted with a casual shrug. "And since you're being you and Lucas isn't around, well…"

"I see," Ness agreed with a nod before shooting his eyes wide open. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean me being 'me'? What's wrong with me?! I'm capable of peace and reason too! Why are you trying to sound sensible all of a sudden?"

"I absolutely have no idea," Toon Link admitted numbly with wide unassuming eyes. "It's almost like voodoo or something."

"Or a convenient plot device," Ness muttered under his breath.

"A what?"

"Nothing. Better go find Villager so we can start working out our team dynamics."

Ness quickly ran off down the hallway while the Wind-Waking Warrior was momentarily pondering about what he meant by 'plot device.' Toon Link watched the wake worriedly.

"He hasn't been rational since Lucas was not brought back to Smash," Toon Link remarked offhandedly before chasing after his psychic friend. "I know a few of our old friends from our past brawl couldn't make it, but really."

It was unfortunate that Toon Link didn't catch what Ness had mentioned about plot devices. Even if he did, he would be weary of other factors in the background waiting to start another short side plot as a result of his last comment.

"So Ness is unhinged because crybaby Lucas isn't around?" a brattish voice mused from a hidden nook nearby where Ness and Toon Link were. "I've got to tell Papa this so that he can help me get revenge on those twerps."

* * *

 _In the youth trio's bedroom…_

Villager had just opened a window to let the fresh air from the wonderful outside environment to enter the bedroom. It was such a nice day today and though he wanted to go out and play with the others, he already had obligations to fulfill from Isabelle and his citizens.

In truth, there wasn't a lot of complicated mayoral paper work that would need his signature for authentication. In their simplistic system, Villager was basically in charge of pushing forth certain ordinances depending on the current needs of his town, as well as setting up foundations projects to fund for in order to get something established in the town.

If there was anything more complicated than deciding what would be best for Smashville, then it would be responding individually to letters sent in from his friends back home. They've wanted to know what it was like for their mayor to take part of a momentous event like Super Smash Bros.

So Villager had to sort out the stories and experiences he had to make them as truthful and exciting for them. Even though they were privileged to watch any matches that sent fighters to Town & City or Smashville, they still wanted to hear about the experience from their mayor's perspective.

Whenever Villager finished a letter to be sent out or decided on what ordinance or project to enact, he would use a special communication system Master Hand had set up for him in order to send over official documentation or other objects from here to the town center. Of course, a size restriction was set up in order maintain certain rules and standards, such as preventing contraband in being transferred over.

It was fine either way for him.

He was grateful that he was able to also receive a fresh cup of one of Brewster's famous blends from back home that Isabelle sent over to him. That was enough to help him get through his mayoral tasks.

"Hey, Villager!" Ness called out, pushing the bedroom door open. "Time to train and practice our team combos!"

"Is it that time already?" Villager asked in wonder. "Just give me a moment to finish up here."

"No time! We got to go now before someone else makes the claim over the training room," Ness quickly rebutted, grabbing the young mayor by the arm and pulling him out by force.

"W-Wait! My drink!" Villager exclaimed, inching his hand out to pocket his gifted beverage from his desk before allowing Ness to lead him away.

The two of them, mostly Ness dragging Villager along for the ride down the hallway, passed Toon Link just as he was about to catch up, spun Peach on her heels from their speed, knocked over Wario and his platter of garlic, tripped over Olimar as he attempted to dislodge a Pikmin stuck in a railing, had a temporary race with Sonic in which they lost, were praised by Captain Falcon for a valiant effort, inadvertently stepped on Palutena's toes, had a raging Pit chase after them, clotheslined into Shulk in an attempt to flee, settled the two sword wielders down by throwing an unsuspecting Meta Knight on them, kicked Yoshi's egg into Marth's face, were sworn at by Lucina for dishonoring the Hero-King, tangled Luigi with his own Poltergust 5000 hose, and tried out Falco's cupcakes on the way to the training room.

Quite the trip to the training room had turned out to be.

"Whew, we made it," Ness panted, having the door to the training room slide open for him and his partner.

"Did we really have to make things hard for the others on our way?" Villager questioned rhetorically.

"They should've stepped aside the moment they saw us bolting down like Sonic on a semi-bad day," Ness remarked.

"A 'semi-bad' day?" Villager repeated wryly.

"Today was an average day for him and he still beat us in that race," Ness clarified. "Anyway, into the teleporters!"

The training room was fairly average in size. It was a clean, blank room, save it for two transporter pods, a mounded touch screen interface between them, and a monitor that displayed the training simulation.

"Any particular stage you want to work in?" Villager asked.

"Let's set it for Onett," Ness declared, tapping the icon for his home stage on the touch interface. "It's flat and has platforms to maneuver about. Plus, I'm feeling a bit homesick right now."

"Cool," Villager accepted, stepping into a teleporter pod.

Ness had set the automatic starting countdown and raced into the other pod in order to be sent off into training. The doors to the pods closed upon them and locked themselves, along with the touch interface, to ensure that no one else would interfere with their ongoing training until they decided to call it quits.

The pod containers showed a visage of their respective trophy poses while their real selves were sent to the Onett stage. As it was not an official versus match, Ness and Villager appeared in a bright flash of light on different sides as opposed to their specialized entrances.

"Now we need to learn how to use each other's strengths for the upcoming tag-team battles," Ness announced.

"But isn't friendly fire disabled unless requested otherwise?" Villager inquired.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't know each other's powers," Ness reasoned. "Now, I'm going to send some special attacks your way. Let's see how you handle them. PK Fire!"

Having been forewarned of Ness's plans, Villager was quick in pocketing the first PK Fire before it erupted upon him. He then tossed it back at Ness with twice the power, only for the PSI boy to counter it with another PK Fire. The two colliding attacks burned each other out.

Ness then sent a PK Thunder his way, only to have that pocketed as well. Villager decided to mix things up by leaping over to the other side of the ground and quickly retaliating with the captured PK Thunder from behind Ness. What the young Smashville mayor did not expect was Ness activating PSI Magnet to absorb the PK Thunder's energy.

"You're quick," Villager praised.

"You can't make yourself predictable by quickly firing back any projectile you catch," Ness advised. "Now it's your turn to attack. Don't hold back!"

Villager conjured a Lloid Rocket to see how Ness would react. He simply brought up his shield at the last moment to perfectly defend against it. Villager then produced another Rocket, this time riding it and pumping his fist in the air without a care in the world. Ness kept his spherical shield up as Villager's Rocket collided against him, having been reduced to a very small and vulnerable state from the strangely added power.

The young mayor leapt on top of the building on the right side of the stage after dismounting from the Lloid Rocket. He decided to use his big Timber trick by first planting a sapling on the roof top and watering it. Ness inched closer to see what his sparring partner was up to, only for a large tree to suddenly grow out on top of the roof and conceal Villager from his sight.

Villager took out his sturdy axe and gave it one chop. Seeing that Ness was right next to the building and within range of the Timber's fall, he gave it one final chop to send the tree tumbling down. There was little time for Ness's shield to have recovered from the previous attacks. He was sure it would shatter if he were to use it against Timber.

 _*CRACK*_

He instinctively recalled what kind of sound that was and quickly rolled backwards to the top of the triangular roof. Villager saw his own tree momentarily fly back up before withering into nothing. He quickly looked down to see Ness brandishing his bat in triumph.

"That bat!" Villager exclaimed with widened eyes.

"I'm sure you can recall that with my trusty baseball bat, I can send nearly any projectile right back," Ness explained proudly, withdrawing the bat. "That includes that giant tree of yours. If I didn't react as quickly as I did, that would have seriously hurt big time."

"Wow, I'm really glad I don't have to actually face you for the tournament," Villager chuckled.

"I'm actually scared of _you_ , Villager," Ness laughed back. "With your ability to pocket a lot of projectiles, you could effectively prevent me from recovering back to a stage."

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Villager murmured upon realization. "And with my recovery, I can make a clean getaway."

"You know, I think there really can be something made between my psychic powers and your trolling trickery," Ness stated.

"Uh, 'trolling'?" Villager repeated with a skeptic brow raised.

"Come on, you can't deny that with the Rockets you produce and your slingshot attacks, you're able to keep other fighters at a distance," Ness indicated. "Even I'm not that fast enough to react and send them back."

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit, Ness," Villager assured. "Anyway, should we train with some items while we're still here?"

"I think there won't be any items for the tag-team tournament except for Smash Balls, but yeah, I don't see why not," Ness agreed, pulling up the start menu holographic interface between the two of them. "What do you want to practice with?"

Back at the training room, Toon Link watched his roommates train with much gusto for the upcoming tournament, wielding Beam Swords and Mr. Saturns. Since their team was just the three of them, they would need to work extra hard to compensate against full teams of four.

Speaking of training, he hoped that they would end their training session soon so that he could get in some exercise as well.

* * *

 _Meanwhile_ _…_

"Papa! Those little jerks think they're better than me and all of us!" Bowser Jr. whined. "The psychic kid, Ness, especially!"

"Oh, Jr., I know I raised you to be tougher than this, so let me just say… those punks that sullied your good name will be brought to fiery, painful judgment!" Bowser roared triumphantly.

"I knew I can count on you, Papa," Bowser Jr. affirmed affectionately.

"Bwa ha ha! That's my boy!" Bowser guffawed. "Trust only the Koopa Klan and use every advantage you can steal!"

"Speaking of advantage, I know how you can mess with Ness and humiliate him and his friends just as they did me," Bowser Jr. cackled sinisterly, rubbing his tiny claws together. "It involves a bigger crybaby than the three of them combined…"

"A cunning mind, I couldn't be more proud," Bowser commented, pretending to wipe a tear while leaning down to listen to his son's devious plan.

* * *

 **So what are the Koopa King and his son planning? I hope it's made clear enough what's going to happen for next chapter from this last section.**

 **I planned on making the training session a bit longer, but after writing and reading it through, it kind of felt like beating a dead horse after getting some points across. Does that make sense?**

 **Anyway, please review!**

 **L-ater!**

 **(And remember Mr. Iwata! Sorry for the late tribute!)**


	5. The Returning and the Upcoming!

**Apologizing now isn't really going to make up for the missed out months of updating, though I am sincerely sorry that I haven't been as active as before. This is my last year in college and I graduate next year. However, now that I'm done with this semester, I can get back in the groove once more and write a bit more for each of my in-progress stories.**

 **That is, if I'm not completely consumed by** _ **Xenoblade Chronicles X**_ **upon getting home to where my Wii U is now.**

 **Also, I kind of did wait around this long on purpose for a reason as hopefully most of you have caught on with the latest Smash Direct. (I needed more characters to make some decent teams.)**

 **Well, time to get things up to date!**

* * *

"Have you ever felt how the months can fly over our heads without notice?" Toon Link asked.

"You could say that again," Villager jested.

"Have you ever felt how the months can fly over our heads without notice?"

"Heh, good one."

"Good one what?"

"… Uh, never mind."

Toon Link wondered why the young Smashville Mayor was pinching the space between his eyes in frustration. The both of them nearly did not notice their third friend coming down from the hallway, nor did they immediately catch the mood he was in. Only after Toon Link turned away after failing to figure out what was troubling Villager did he see something even more troubling.

"Oi, Ness!" Toon Link greeted cheerfully. "How did your match with Donkey Kong go?"

"… …" the PSI Powerhouse simply mumbled, if anything.

"Oh," Toon Link grunted before leaning close to Villager. "I didn't know he's resuming the silent protagonist role."

"He's not," Villager said in a deadpan tone, lightly pushing the Wind-Waking Warrior out of the way to investigate his sullen friend. "Ness, what's going on?"

" _Sigh_ … I lost," Ness shared with an indifferent shrug. "So what else is new?"

"What's 'new' is that you've been off your game for a while now," Villager called out. "Your recent string of losses was against Smashers that you were on par with or even better than. Mario, Little Mac, Marth, and Robin are some examples. Wario is a joke. Heck, even against me you were careless! Don't think we haven't noticed this."

"Look, just stay out of my way!" Ness rebutted tersely, shoving pass Villager while refusing to look him in the eye. "I'm just tired is all there is."

"You're not getting enough sleep?" Toon Link inquired concernedly. "Sleeping is the most important thing to do in life aside from wrecking other people's precious jars."

Ness seemed to have paused for a moment. Villager and Toon Link were gazing upon him expectantly. The young mayor didn't want to jump to any immediate conclusions yet since this was the first time they finally confronted Ness about his recently poor performance in his matches, which was also not looking good for their future as a multi-tag team for the upcoming tournament.

But seeing the way that he appeared to be deliberating after Toon Link had thrown in his two Rupees appeared to be having a peculiar effect on him.

Was he really not getting enough sleep?

Or was there something deeper behind this seeming cry for help?

Hopefully it wasn't about wanting to wreck other people's priceless jars.

"These days, I don't want to go to sleep," Ness murmured cryptically. "It feels like any reality I imagine myself to be in becomes worse than this."

"That doesn't make any sense," Villager remarked. "Can you please expound?"

Instead of getting a clear answer, Villager received another cold shoulder from his PSI friend as he continued walking down the hallway, presumably in the direction of their bedroom. He and Toon Link noted that he has been retreating back to their room after taking care of necessary duties such as eating and randomly assigned chores from the Hands as of recent.

It was starting to make sense to Villager now that faint memories regarding Ness behaving so differently, becoming withdrawn and depressed, started to connect with each other.

"You're thinking up a heavy storm in there," Toon Link commented. "Any idea on what's the matter with Ness?"

"Not yet," Villager replied, preparing to leave towards a direction. "It's time we got to the bottom of this. For Ness!"

"For Ness!" Toon Link shouted with equal fervor, running off with Villager to some destination.

Neither of them noticed a sinister smirk in the shadows of the hallway before departing to share the news.

* * *

 _A little later on…_

"It's all coming to plan as you wanted," Larry reported, humbly kneeling before his Koopa King and Prince. "Villager and Toon Link are at their wits' end worrying about the welfare of Ness."

"Excellent work, Larry," Bowser praised, dismissing him soon after with a wave of a hand.

Larry Koopa stood up and quickly saluted them before running off to join his Koopaling brethren. Bowser and his son chuckled maliciously over this seeming good news for them.

"Thanks so much for this, Dad!" Bowser Jr. cheered. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"Getting even with a rival over petty matters is the perfect reason to do convoluted evil plans, son," Bowser commended, clapping twice as a signal to summon his trusted long-time advisor, Kamek. The old Magikoopa appeared from a subtle poof of smoke as a result. "You should thank this guy and his powerful magic."

"It's definitely strong than what Iggy and Ludwig could come with together," Bowser Jr. remarked.

"It wasn't difficult at all, my liege," Kamek answered, kneeling before them. "A little dream infiltration spell was all it took to mess with the PSI boy's head. With the information Prince Jr. provided on the Smasher that isn't here and their bond from the previous installment, it was easily to manipulate his dreams into nightmares by making the boy constantly relive losing his blond friend over and over."

"And with Ness turning into a moping wreck without Lucas, he won't stand a chance in his next match against Papa!" Bowser Jr. exclaimed wickedly. "The ultimate revenge is at hand!"

"I had no doubts that Jr.'s findings would be accurate," Bowser added. "I've seen how close Ness and Lucas were during our Brawl days. Those kids were practically brothers, almost as close as those bothersome Mario Bros.!"

"Papa, easy there," Bowser Jr. urged, seeing how worked up his father became upon mentioning his hated enemies. "We'll crush them and every other hero in this place."

"Your fighting spirit is as hot as my flame breath, Jr.," Bowser chuckled, resuming his good spirits and giving his son a hefty pat on the head. "I'll make sure my team will dominate our half while your team eliminates everyone else. Sound good?"

"You bet!" Bowser Jr. concurred.

"I'm a bit confounded, Your Haughtiness," Kamek intervened. "I was sure that you and your son would be in the same team for this upcoming multi-team tournament?"

"That was part of the original plan, Kamek," Bowser explained. "However, Jr. came up with a brilliant idea that would double our chances of winning this whole shebang. If he were to form a four-man team of his own, then we can eliminate all other teams before having to face each other. At least with the rest of the competition out of the way, we'll each just give it our best go and whichever one of us comes out on top will still bring glory to the Koopa name."

"Ah, I see," Kamek mused.

"Awesome, isn't it?" Bowser Jr. added.

"But sirs, what if you both have to face each other in the first round?" Kamek proposed.

The Koopa King and Prince were too excited about their plan that they did not even notice this little hole in the plan, at least not until Kamek ripped it wider. They both blinked dumbly before glancing at each other in shock and back at the Magikoopa advisor. They certainly had no certain answer for this.

"Kamek, don't rain on our parade!" Bowser demanded.

"Yeah!" Bowser Jr. agreed.

"But sirs," Kamek continued worriedly. "I'm only saying that−."

"Enough!" Bowser interrupted with a stomp. "The teams are randomized, so the possibility of my team fighting Jr.'s team in the first round is slim to none! Got it?!"

"Y-Yes, sire," Kamek stuttered, relenting on getting the Koopa King to listen to his reason. "If there's nothing else you need from me, I'll be on my way."

"Hmm, I'm good for now," Bowser grumbled. "How about you, Jr.?"

"Bring back pretzels!" Bowser Jr. requested impatiently.

"Very well, young Prince," Kamek obliged, teleporting out of their room in a puff of smoke.

* * *

 _The next day…_

"Man, this is bad," Villager muttered, shivering and sweating in distress. He and Toon Link found themselves back in the same hallway they were in yesterday when it came to discussing the current well-being of their PSI-using friend. "Ness is scheduled for another match soon and I still haven't been able to get to the bottom of his situation."

"Did you talk to the other Smashers Ness faced previously?" Toon Link suggested.

"Yeah, most of them either did not notice or dismissed Ness's mood as a form of homesickness," Villager explained. "And I know for a fact that he's not facing homesickness."

"How?" Toon Link questioned.

"I'm a kid far away from home too, so I know how to relate to him," Villager answered. "But that doesn't matter now. I'm worried because his next opponent is Bowser, and he's certainly not going to make things any easier for him than the previous Smashers."

"I suppose it would be _too_ convenient if Bowser had something to do with Ness," Toon Link remarked.

At that rather ironic moment, Lemmy Koopa was passing by the two of them in an attempt to chase after a big star-patterned ball that was bouncing out of his reach. Being genre-savvy as he was and deciding to take his chances since he had no leads to go on, Villager snagged Lemmy by the wrist and pulled him to the side and against the wall.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Lemmy cried out. "My ball's getting away! Without it, I won't be able to have fun anymore!"

"We just want some answers," Villager said in a calming manner, trying to settle down the littlest Koopaling.

"Yeah, so you better be ready to fess up unless you want to be sent home in a box down the river, if ya know what I mean," Toon Link threatened with a strange gangster-like accent.

Villager sweat-dropped while Lemmy was visibly shaken, retreating his head into his shell as a result. Villager then gave a glare towards Toon Link while attempting to reassure the young Koopaling that nothing bad would happen to him. Truth be told, if there were any of the Koopalings that would deserve mercy, it was decided that only Lemmy would receive it.

"I got an idea," Villager proposed. "If you answer some questions for us, then we'll help you retrieve your ball. Deal?"

Lemmy stopped shaking within his shell and enthusiastically popped his head out to give an eager nod to confirm his willingness. He'd do anything for the simple pleasures of amusement in life, such as toys and sweets.

"Excellent," Toon Link whispered eerily, cracking his knuckles before receiving an elbow shove in the ribs.

"Stop trying to scare him," Villager reprimanded. "You're a hero, not a mobster wannabe."

"Not even this once?"

"… …"

* * *

 _A little bit later…_

"Will the next combatants please stand forward?" Master Hand announced. "That means Ness and Bowser."

A small crowd of Smashers had gathered around the standard Four-Player Smash room composed of four teleporter pods and a large screen monitor overhead to display the current match. Compared to the somewhat regal decor of Smash Mansion, the style of this room, among a few others like it such as the Training Center and the Eight-Player Smash room, was futuristic chrome white and immaculate.

Bowser was already standing next to one of the teleporter pods with burly arms crossed. He snorted a cinder when he caught sight of Ness dragging his feet towards him and the rest of the teleporter pods. He made no attempts to mask his sneering delight. His son was going to be proud of him in humiliating the PSI Powerhouse the way he was now.

"Master Hand, are you sure letting Ness fight is a good idea?" Rosalina asked. "I don't mean to pry, but you have been paying attention to his recent battle performances."

"Yeah, cut the little guy a break or something," Captain Falcon added. "I'll be willing to fight in his stead."

"Me too," Lucina intervened. "I don't like that look that beast he's to face has."

"Settle down," Master Hand spoke, effectively silencing all murmurs and ongoing conversation in the room. "I understand your concerns and I have spoken to Ness about this, but he has already agreed to go through with the match."

"What?!" a good portion of the more outspoken Smashers yelped.

"Guys… it's okay," Ness reassured with a hollow smile. "I'm here to fight. That's all that matters."

"Ness, look at yourself," Fox reasoned. "You're in no shape to fight, nor have you been since your previous matches. I don't know what's going on, but it's clear to me that you need to sort whatever's holding you back first before you can fight again."

"Po-poyo poyo, Ness-poyo," Kirby agreed earnestly.

Most of the Smashers in the room, mainly the female fighters, even Samus through a subdued smile, gushed over Kirby's attempt to be the voice of reason, even having the capacity to call Ness out by name. It's certainly not every day when the little pink Star Warrior could say something coherent in English words outside of copying certain powers. Fox shrugged and chuckled inwardly, feeling that Kirby has gotten everything taken cared of from here.

"You're really going to let that marshmallow talk you out of being in a match?" Bowser mocked, being one of the few clearly not affected by Kirby's charm. "You know what? Go ahead and quit so that I don't have to waste my time dealing with weaklings like you."

Ness looked up to glare at the Koopa King. The melancholy he had been feeling was subsiding and turning into rage as Bowser continued to taunt him. He was certainly not going to take that, regardless of what he was feeling now.

"Ness, wait!" Luigi called out. "Bowser's-a baiting you!"

"I don't care," Ness responded heatedly, pointing a finger at the arrogant Koopa King. "It's time I took you down a peg!"

"Hmph, fine by me," Bowser snarled with a fanged smirk, not worried about this minor uprising of fiery emotions the PSI boy had. "You'll be put out soon enough."

Without another word or exchanged banter, Ness and Bowser hopped up into a teleporter pod each while R.O.B. worked on the keyboard interface under Master Hand's direction. It was going to be a simple two-stock battle with a time limit of ten minutes. No items were going to show up in the middle of battle, not even a Smash Ball. These were the conditions previously agreed upon.

Some of the Smashers that had been previously worried for Ness started to cheer for him to take down Bowser while some of the wiser ones remained quiet. They knew that his newly awakened rage won't last long to sustain him and thus, Bowser would gain the upper hand at that point.

In any case, they still hoped for the best for the young PSI Powerhouse.

Inside the secured teleporter pods were the trophy selves of Ness and Bowser as to mark who was currently in battle. The stage for their fight was selected to be Battlefield. The Smashers in the room looked on expectantly as the monitor overhead displayed the loading screen.

 _ **3**_

A small wormhole opened up and Ness zipped out of it as a result of PSI Teleport, shaking off the charred face he had from impact.

 _ **2**_

A wreath of flames erupted on the side opposite of Ness. Bowser stomped forth out of them.

 _ **1**_

Both players were in battle position, waiting for the countdown to finish.

 _ **GO!**_

Bowser was the first to charge in, stomping towards Ness with the intent of making him suffer. He started off with a running kick, only for the young boy to react with a quick sidestep. Bowser swore under his breath as he fly right over him.

Ness then retaliated with a strong roundhouse kick of his own, causing Bowser to stumble from the hit and thus granting the PSI Powerhouse the rights as the one who landed the first hit.

"Why, you little!" Bowser growled, diving for a grab.

Ness leapt out of reach before descending back to the ground, spreading his arms out and spinning like a top to strike against the Koopa King's face. Still fueled by the rage of his insults, Ness continued his assault with simple melee attacks to rack up the damage. Bowser was losing his resistance to weak attacks and was beginning to flinch.

Everyone back at the Four-Player Smash was cheering for Ness's early lead and remarkable recovery compared to his recent battles. He was certainly putting up a better fight now than ever. Maybe Bowser did cure him of whatever funk he was in with his taunting.

Bowser managed to get in a few punches and flames before Ness snagged him into a grab, pummeled him a few times with his head, and threw him down to exert PSI power upon. The Koopa King bounced from the impact.

Ness followed up into the air with a forward PSI energy push, besetting more damage within a blink of an eye. With his remarkable midair prowess, he landed several more of such hits before forcing himself back to the main Battlefield platform.

The knockback wasn't enough to push Bowser far away. One Whirling Fortress was enough to reach the edge and climb back into battle. He was breathing heavily, as was Ness despite not having as much damage.

"Had enough yet?" Ness spat, attempting to push more inner rage against Bowser to the forefront.

"Heh, you get in a few hits and you already think you're the champ," Bowser remarked gruffly. "I'll admit that this caught me off guard."

"Admit that you were wrong about me," Ness demanded.

"How about I admit this instead," Bowser suggested, bearing a devilish smirk. "That the real reason that you've been falling behind is that you miss that crybaby friend of yours."

Ness grimaced. He felt the chill of his dark emotions freeze over within himself, pushing back against the fiery anger he had for the Koopa King. It almost seemed too convenient that he would bring this up, but Ness knew that he can't fall for this mind game. Not now anyway.

"W-What are you talking about?" Ness questioned.

"Call it a little theory if you want, but I think that it's fact," Bowser continued. "You hero types are so sentimental. He was the only one who could relate to you back at Brawl. And you were upset when you found out that he wasn't invited back."

"H-He had to rebuild his village," Ness argued, struggling against the fresh memories of his recent nightmares.

"Or perhaps that Hands saw him too weak and plain to return," Bowser rebutted.

"No! Lucas… Lucas is special… He's not weak…"

The nightmares of Lucas involved him in some sort of peril with Ness being tasked to save him. Unfortunately, all of these visions resulted with the same disastrous outcome, which Ness would get stuck with some obstacle and would wind up too late to save Lucas from his fate. Of course, he would see that his blond PSI friend was also attempting to free himself, but it just was not enough.

He was not strong enough.

Ness believed in the strength of his friends. He believed that Lucas wasn't weak, but he still couldn't help but worry what has been going on with him now since this installment of Super Smash Bros.

And while he was stuck in his doubts, Bowser stole the opportunity to send a smashing drop kick his way. Ness had no time to react and was immediately sent flying to the side. The damage he had fortunately wasn't enough to knock him beyond the boundaries, but getting back to the stage was certainly not going to be an easy task.

His powerful second jump was not enough to reach the edge, so he quickly concentrated a PK Thunder orb to send him flying back.

"It's Bowser Time!" Bowser roared, running to the edge of the stage to intercept the PSI Powerhouse.

Using his full weight, he was able to quickly roll off the edge and send a claw right into Ness before the PK Thunder could connect. The knockback was heavy enough to disrupt his concentration and send him off stage with one less life.

Bowser then retreated into his shell for another Whirling Fortress, narrowly grabbing onto the edge and pulling himself up to celebrate his soon-to-be victory.

* * *

"Hey! That was dirty!" Pit complained, pointing at Bowser's image on the monitor. "You all heard him, right?"

"I agree," Fox said, frowning. "That was definitely a low blow on Bowser's end. Bringing up Lucas as part of Ness's turmoil is just dishonest."

"What did you all expect?" Dark Pit commented sardonically. "He's a _villain_ , meaning that he'll play dirty somehow while still keeping himself within the set rules."

"Unfortunately, that's how most battles tend to have anyway," Lucina added. "Psychological warfare against the enemy has always been an effective tactic. I wish we can help Ness somehow."

"Actually, there is," Master Hand intervened.

"Wait, you can help?" Luigi asked.

"Aren't you supposed to remain neutral for all battles, Master Hand?" Zelda inquired.

"Please, I foresaw all of this to come," Master Hand explained, much to the bewilderment of the Smashers. "As a matter of fact, if you want additional proof, they're standing right under the doorway."

Following Master Hand's pointing finger, the Smashers looked to see Villager and Toon Link with two figures tied up before them. Actually, only one was tied up with rope while the other was trapped and concealed under Villager's bug net.

"Villager! Toon Link!" Pit greeted. "What do you have there?"

"Here's what Master Hand was talking about," Villager announced, removing his bug net from his captive.

Toon Link also kicked his captive forward so that the rest of the Smashers could have a better look at both figures' faces. A collective gasp was heard before someone decided to voice their thoughts.

"That's Bowser Jr. and Kamek," Peach revealed.

"What's going on?" Fox asked as to get back on track.

"There's a funny story to go along with that," Toon Link began. "One that will have a sweet flashback sequence."

* * *

 _One sweet flashback sequence…_

 _Within Bowser Jr.'s personal room, the young Koopa Prince and Kamek watched the match between Ness and Bowser through the latter's crystal ball. Ness was surprisingly giving the Koopa King a run for his coins with that kind of an early lead._

" _That's not supposed to happen!" Bowser Jr. growled in frustration. "Kamek, fix this!"_

" _If I try to interfere, I'll get caught," Kamek reasoned._

" _Then talk to Dad in his mind!" Bowser Jr. suggested. "We need to wave in his face the fact that Lucas is no longer here."_

" _Understood, Your Spoiledness."_

 _Kamek waved his wand and casted a spell to establish a mental link with his King. While the advisor communicated the plan into Bowser's mind, the door opened and Lemmy intruded while carrying his big bouncy ball upon his tiny arms. It concealed his entire upper half, as well as part of the doorway._

" _Lemmy, what do you think you're doing here?!" Bowser Jr. grumbled before resuming his attention back to the crystal ball. "Kamek and I are busy sabotaging Ness! Get out of here!"_

 _The Wacky War Machine quickly scampered off to the side, revealing two new intruders that were hiding behind the ball's visage. Neither Bowser Jr. nor Kamek noticed until they felt something tiny and blunt strike them on the sides of their heads._

" _OW!" Kamek yelped, losing his concentration on helping Bowser._

" _Hey! What's the big idea?!" Bowser Jr. screamed, finally noticing the pair that shot pebbles at them with their slingshots._

" _The idea is that justice will find the real perpetrators, no matter where they hide," Toon Link declared dramatically, pulling back on his slingshot with new ammo._

" _You don't have to do any explaining," Villager assured, also prepping his slingshot for another attack. "You already did that for us when Lemmy entered."_

" _Well, you bozos are too late!" Bowser Jr. proclaimed arrogantly. "My dad knows how to take down Ness now. It's his fault for being attached to a weakling. He's finally gonna get what's coming to him! And there's nothing you can do to stop this!"_

" _Then I don't suppose you won't mind us doing this then," Toon Link warned, both he and Villager getting ready to fire._

" _Bring it!" Bowser Jr. demanded. "I'm not scared by a bunch of stones."_

 _To a keen eye like Kamek's, he noticed that there was something unusual about the pellets those boys were about to use on them. They looked ready to blow up at any second now. It was then he was able to identify what they really were, fidgeting as a result of the revelation._

" _Prince Jr., wait!" Kamek called out, extending a hand out to him in vain._

 _Too late._

 _*BOOM*_

 _The pellets upon impact burst into a bright, stunning flash. The shockwave was quite rattling. Bowser Jr. and Kamek were rendered disoriented and helpless. The Deku Nuts have done their job._

* * *

"As it turns out, they were responsible for Ness's nightmares on losing Lucas," Villager concluded. "By burdening his emotions on top with the lack of sleep from the nightmares, they've been wearing out Ness this whole time just for this moment. His recent performances have reflected this. He's been unable to focus on any battle because of this."

"What I don't understand is why go so far?" Ike pondered.

"And again, they're _villains_ ," Dark Pit answered drolly. "Doesn't any ever pay attention to detail these days?"

"Well, duh, I wanted revenge on him and you losers for those pranks being better than mine," Bowser Jr. admitted.

"Hmm, I don't recall pulling any pranks against the Koopas," Toon Link mused.

"He's probably still upset about the fireworks incident a couple of chapters ago," Villager surmised.

"Say what now?" Toon Link mumbled quickly.

"It is what it is," Villager continued with a shrug.

"But how are we supposed to help Ness?" Pit spoke up.

"Ahem, remember me?" Master Hand coughed, prompting all eyes upon the powerful deity. "I had previously mentioned that I foresaw all this happening."

"So you're all-knowing and omnipotent, like we don't know that already," Falco remarked brazenly.

"Master Hand, you're not certainly suggesting sending in help for Ness, are you?" Zelda fathomed. "Is that even allowed?"

"Technically, we never made such rules on jumping in and pulling off heroic feats," Captain Falcon offered thoughtfully. "I always figured that any with common sense would automatically adhere to some moral principle."

"Would that mean villains lack common sense by that logic?" Pit wondered.

"Of course not, chickenbrain," Kamek scoffed, appearing affronted from such an accusation. "We choose not to be good, doesn't mean we don't have common sense."

"But most bad guys disregard common sense anyway for their own selfish pleasure," Fox added.

"Guys, we're getting off topic again!" Villager interrupted. "Master Hand, what did you say we can do? Ness is getting a heavy beating out there!"

True to the Smashville Mayor's word, everybody looked back at the monitor while the fight continued. The time was down to less than five minutes. Though Bowser had over one-hundred twenty damage, he still had all two remaining stocks left. Ness, on the other hand, was nearing ninety percent and was getting careless in his fighting style.

"He's going to lose!" Fox warned.

"This is now the perfect time for us to reveal a special surprise," Master Hand announced, prompting the present Smashers to pay attention to him once more. "We've recruited a few more characters to join our Smash coalition, a couple of which are familiar faces."

"You mean, just like Mewtwo?" Luigi asked.

Master Hand then snapped his fingers, summoning Crazy Hand, who for some reason was wearing a large wig of long brown hair on top of his knuckles. The entire cast within the room fell into mortified silence while Master Hand mentally face-palmed himself.

"Oh, darling~!" Crazy Hand sang in a… surprisingly good imitation of a sweet woman's voice. "Time to show everyone what you're made of~!"

Soon after the rather unique call from the embodiment of destruction was made, small footsteps were soon heard emerging out of the corner of the room. The Smashers that found the source took in slow collective gasps. Bowser Jr. and Kamek were certainly speechless. They were certainly in for the shock of their lives.

"No… freaking… way," Toon Link gasped, his eyes widening even larger than they could possibly be.

"… Who would've thought?" Villager mused, unable to pick up his gaping jaw.

"I'm ready when you are," the newcomer announced, bearing an uncharacteristic confident grin.

* * *

 _Back at the Battlefield…_

Bowser sent one more strong punch against the side of Ness's head, easily knocking him from one side of the stage all the way to the other. The PSI wielder landed on his back, deprived of power and motivation to continue.

He had been reduced into a mere shell of his former self.

"I rule!" Bowser roared, flaunting his nigh victory with a puff of smoke into the air. "Bwa ha ha! Time to end this game!"

The Koopa King ran forward to mercilessly deliver the final blow. He held a sharped claw up high to strike the immobile Ness.

The boy was unresponsive. He felt that there was no use in getting back up, not after falling so far from the top.

This was it…

"PK Fire!"

"Wha?!"

Bowser found himself unable to continue his outburst as a sudden PK Fire bolt blasted him backwards. There was no way that belonged to Ness. His PK Fire did not have that kind of knockback. There was only one other fighter that could use PSI powers.

There was just no way.

But seeing would be believing.

An interloper skidded in front of Ness, who was alerted by that peculiar attack cry. Through some unknown source of energy from within, he was able to stand back up on his feet and shake off the remaining repercussions from Bowser's last attack. He was certain he was hallucinating now as the person standing before him was certainly an unexpected twist.

However, even as his vision cleared up, the small blond figure clad in the orange and red-striped shirt was still there.

"… Lu… Lucas," Ness managed to say.

"What's up… Ness," Lucas replied, flashing a reassuring smile back to him. "And yes, I'm back and better than ever."

The PSI Powerhouse blinked a few times, finding himself grinning widely. But before he could reach out and embrace his returned psychic friend, Lucas held out a hand to stop him.

"Huh?" Ness grunted.

"We still have a match to finish," Lucas indicated, pointing at an irate Koopa King stomping in fury in front of them.

"No fair!" Bowser whined. "I call fowl! He's not supposed to show up out of nowhere and double-team on me like that!"

"Technically, this is still free-for-all mode," Lucas reminded. "Also, I _am_ from Nowhere, the Nowhere Islands to be exact."

"Then allow me to dispose of you so that I can resume finishing off Ness, smart mouth," Bowser threatened, dashing forward to strike.

Both Lucas and Ness leapt out the way and onto the top platform. Bowser was then chasing after them. The two PSI users were going about in the same direction, but nonetheless, they remained successful in evading Bowser's strikes.

"Bowser's been buffed up since our last brawl," Lucas commented. "This is really going to be tough."

"What should we do?" Ness asked.

"Just leave it to me," Lucas answered, flashing a thumbs-up at his friend. "Bowser is not the only one who's improved."

As to prove his point, the Boy from Nowhere leapt towards Bowser while his entire body was sparkling with PSI energy. Bowser's eyes widened, knowing that he did not anticipate and prepare some sort of defense against the attack, and thus received quite the shock of his life.

Stumbling back from the multiple hits, the Koopa King soon found himself flying a distance after receiving a strong kick on the abdomen. Lucas ran after him before spinning on heel and leaping backwards, aiming a downward kick to spike Bowser down to his first demise.

Lucas then unleashed his Rope Snake, having it latch to the ledge and pull him back up. Every spectator that watched how Lucas had made quick work of Bowser was certainly more than impressed, disregarding the fact that his damage percentage was already in the danger zone.

Bowser soon descended from the revival platform, fury clearly etched upon his monstrous face. Resorting to vicious roars as means to express himself, his attempt at intimidation showed that he was done playing around. He ran forward while the revival invincibility was still in effect, throwing a running kick Lucas's way and knocking him aside.

Ness then leapt to action, pushing his hands out to spark PSI energy as he fell towards Bowser. Despite managing to land the attack while his back was turned, Bowser was still able to counterattack with a strong punch, bashing Ness off the stage.

It wasn't enough to knock him out of the match, but he was certainly pushing his limit.

Lucas came from behind and retaliated with flying kick charged with PSI energy, slamming his foot on the back of Bowser's head. The Koopa King stumbled at that time, signaling his weakening resistance to minor attacks.

Enraged, Bowser attempted to snag Lucas for a Flying Slam, only for Lucas to roll back and send his Rope Snake forward. Bowser was caught by his long-ranged grab and before long, he found himself half buried into the ground.

"How the?!" Bowser yelled, though muffled underground.

He wriggled to get free, getting a grip with his arms on the outside and pulling the remainder of himself out. However, his attempt in getting free was overpowered and had resulted with him in being airborne.

Lucas was quick to send an upward headbutt into Bowser's stomach. The Boy from Nowhere then attempted another kick, but Bowser was able to evade the next move.

As the both of them landed back on the ground, Ness ran in and used a PSI-powered push to zap Bowser off balance. Of course, this resulted in the Koopa King getting even angrier than ever.

He swung an arm at him, only for Ness to narrowly sidestep. This left him vulnerable for Bowser's next move, which was one of his personal favorites as indicated by the sinister gleam in his eyes.

Lucas anticipated what he was about to do and jumped in front of Bowser as the latter reared up for his infamous Fire Breath. Right at the moment the first burst of flame was spat out of his mouth, Lucas held out his hand and activated his PSI Magnet over Ness.

The blue energy magnet field absorbed the flames Bowser unleashed while Ness remained unharmed. The Koopa King growled furiously behind his Fire Breath and unleashed more flames, thinking that it would overpower the PSI Magnet.

Apparently, someone did not take the basics class of PSI.

He eventually exhausted his supply of flames for the moment while both Ness and Lucas remained unscathed from his assault. Moreover, Lucas received the absorbed energy from the flames and lowered his damage percentage by a lot.

"I told you that Lucas is strong after all," Ness concluded while still inside the PSI Magnet.

"Okay, _now_ I'm _beyond_ mad!" Bowser bellowed, charging in.

The two PSI users nodded to each other before enacting their final plan. Ness leapt out of the way while Lucas waited for Bowser to get close enough. Blinded by his own fury and contempt towards these troublesome children, he did not notice that Lucas disengaged the PSI Magnet right as he ran into it, receiving quite the momentary paralyzing shock.

Bowser lost his footing from the aftereffect. Taking a moment to regain his bearings, he reopened his eyes to see Lucas brandishing a big stick. His face fell upon realizing what the blond boy was planning to do with said big stick.

 _*THWACK*_

He was slammed hard towards the other side of the stage. It would've been a relief if the pain would stop there. However, Ness was waiting for him on the other side, holding up his baseball bat, which was clearly thicker and sturdier than Lucas's smashing stick.

"Here we go," Ness quipped, charging up his side smash to full power.

"Why me?" Bowser mumbled, knowing that he was unable to avoid his imminent fate.

 _*CRACK*_

This blunt hit combo nearly matched the harmony that the Mario Bros. would usually enact in their battles with Bowser, as much as he hated to admit after Ness sent him flying. As he soared back in the opposite distance from the hit, the Koopa King swore in incoherent growls that he would remember this before exploding off in the distance, eliminating his last life stock.

"And that's game!" Ness exclaimed in triumph, placing his bat back inside his backpack.

"For Bowser, that is," Lucas clarified, hesitatingly clicking his index fingers together, much to Ness's confusion. "With my addition into this match, it's not over until one of us remains or the time limit runs out."

"Oh," Ness sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Well, this one was between me and Bowser, so I'm happy to beat him and get my groove back, though I really couldn't have done it without you. Thanks for coming back, Lucas." An afterthought came into mind and he appeared to have frozen in fear. "You're back for real, right?"

"Yep!" Lucas affirmed cheerfully. "I'm actually one of the newcomers to Smash Bros., along with a few others waiting back at the mansion."

"A few others?" Ness repeated. "Who else joined with you?"

"Well, I was asked not to say lest I accidentally steal Master Hand's job," Lucas explained with a sheepish grin. "Anyway, you'll meet them for yourself once this match ends in ten seconds. I think there's a Smasher that you were familiar with from the past too."

Ness's eyes shot wide open, having momentarily forgotten that the match was still going on. He only noticed the timer reaching the last five seconds and the countdown was loudly announced. With Lucas's status being ahead of his, Ness knew that he wasn't going to win this one. But having his friend back was the best victory he could have here. The PSI Powerhouse then nonchalantly placed his hands on his hips and gave one of his well-known phrases.

"Okay."

* * *

 _A little bit after the match…_

All current Smashers have been gathered into the main meeting hall. On the stage before everyone's view were the Hands, as well as Lucas, who stood between them with his head held high. Various conversations echoed throughout the whole. With the exception of the fuming Bowser and his son, the reception in regards to Lucas returning was majorly positive to neutral.

"Good news, everyone!" Master Hand called out, commanding for silence. Once all attention was back on him, the ceremonial deity of creation resumed. "As many of you have seen from the last match we held, we have a returning fighter rejoining our ranks."

"Lucas comes out of Nowhere!" Crazy Hand chimed proudly, inciting a bit of applause.

The boy being praised went back to his bashful self, still not accustomed to all of this attention. Nonetheless, he was glad to be back and that the others were happy for his return. He noticed somewhere within the middle of the crowd was Ness cheering loudly for him, along with another old friend, Toon Link. There was a third in their group with short brown hair and wearing a red shirt.

 _He must be a newcomer that arrived when this installment started_ , Lucas thought curiously. _He must also be one of Ness's newer friends too._

Just as the applause was settling down, a new voice rang into the meeting hall, much to Marth's surprise. A few of the older veterans also reacted, but not to a big extent as the Hero-King's.

"Don't forget about me!" this voice called out.

"My, aren't we impatient," Master Hand jested. "Since our next newcomer wants to make his return, it looks like we have no choice."

The two Hands managed to pull off a shrugging gesture despite having no shoulders. Nonetheless, their esteemed second newcomer leapt from the shadows of the stage to join Lucas and momentarily take the spotlight off of him.

"It's Roy!" Marth exclaimed, prompting his fellow Fire Emblem warriors to look upon the one who weld the Binding Blade.

"This is the man who's also known as the Young Lion?" Lucina inquired. "I'm amazed. You know a lot of powerful allies, Hero-King Marth."

"Lucina, I mean no disrespect, but you know there's no need for formalities," Marth reminded.

"And you know she can't help giving this much respect, Lord Marth," Robin intervened.

"All this talk about titles is making my head spin," Ike remarked. "Isn't it time we welcomed one of our own back into Smash?"

At the Radiant Hero's prompt, they impelled another round of applause among the Smashers in welcoming back another veteran from his fighting reprieve since his last melee. Roy stood right next to Lucas and placed a hand on the younger boy's shoulder while bearing a pleased grin, encouraging him to accept all of these rightfully deserved accolades, love, and respect instead of being so bashful about it.

Despite having returned to Super Smash Bros. as a more confident fighter, Lucas was still rather quiet and very humble at heart. He certainly had the qualities and makings of a true hero, for sure.

"Moving on!" Master Hand bellowed. "We have an outsider joining in!"

"And by outsider, you mean?" Little Mac decided to speak up.

Instead of answering the Bruiser from the Bronx directly, the Hand decided to snap his fingers as a show of dramatic flair. Calm, heavy footsteps were heard arriving from the shadows of the stage. A muscular man clad in a rather tattered white fighter gi, fingerless red gloves, and red headband took the stage. Much of the Smashers were in complete silence from the appearance of this wanderer.

Mega Man, in particular, was surprised by this twist of events.

"No way!" the Blue Bomber exclaimed.

"Here comes a new challenger!" Master Hand continued. "Ryu!"

"So this is Smash," Ryu stated, coolly gazing upon all of the legendary fighters that have joined this major event as they clapped for his addition. His eyes soon fell upon the short boxer, who equally stared back with fiery determination. Both he and the Tireless Wanderer exchanged challenging smirks to one another. Those around them immediately determined a new rivalry was just formed. "Now I'm glad I found this place. I'm expecting a good fight out of this."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Little Mac quipped back.

With the friendly rivalry established and settled in, the rest of the Smashers began talking among one another on how these newcomers were going to make future battles interesting. But before they could resume conversing, a loud and timed clap disrupted their thoughts.

Apparently, the Hands were not done just yet.

"But wait, there's more!" Master Hand and Crazy Hand interrupted.

"How many more fighters can there be?" Link inquired. "I mean, not that it's a bad thing, but it's a lot to take in."

"I think I liked you better when you were silent," Crazy Hand commented offhandedly.

Link merely grunted in irritation as a result, right eye involuntarily twitching while Zelda looked on concernedly. Ganondorf had no reserves in laughing raucously at his nemesis's brief humiliation.

"You wouldn't want to turn an eye away from this newcomer," Master Hand resumed. "Like Ryu, this warrior too hails from a faraway land. And I do mean faraway."

Similarly to how the wanderer arrived upon the stage, this next newcomer also stepped up to the stage cautiously. He took the side next to Ryu. He appeared to be nothing more than a young man with messy spiky blond hair and dressed in dark clothing. However, the detail that was most notable about this fighter was the huge sword on his back that was practically the same size and height as he was.

Both Ike and Shulk inadvertently thought about their own swords compared to that belonging to the new guy.

 _It's huge!_ Ike and Shulk both thought, reluctant to admit it out loud.

"Want to take the tagline this time, brother?" Master Hand asked.

"I sure do!" Crazy Hand replied enthusiastically, forming himself in a fist and swinging over everyone's heads in an eager gesture, much to the fright and annoyance by Smashers that nearly got their heads launched off. "Cloud storms into battle!"

"I never imagined myself in this place," Cloud remarked as his opening words. "Certainly a lively bunch to be with."

"He doesn't sound as lively about being here," Sonic joked within the applause. "Don't know why, but this guy's attitude almost reminds me of Shadow back home. But I'm sure he's still a good guy deep inside of all that tight-lipped bravado."

"He's definitely from far away," Diddy Kong concurred. "Aside from Ryu, who I only know because of Mega Man telling me minutes ago, I have little knowledge of Cloud."

"You only need to know that I'll be the one who'll take him down," Link intervened between them, bearing a wolfish grin.

"Not so fast," Zelda said, pulling the Hero of Hyrule back by his tunic collar. "Tensions are already high because of the rivalry between Little Mac and Ryu. Another one will set off an immediate brawl."

"These are no longer brawls, Zelda," Link replied, gingerly taking Zelda's hand off of him while keeping it in his hands. "It's a matter of glory now. And I'm raring to test my blade against his."

"Still, you don't know his hidden strengths," Zelda warned. "That sword of his isn't just for show, you know."

"It makes the fight a lot more fun that way," Link answered. "Plus, he likely doesn't know _my_ strengths."

"In any case," Zelda sighed, knowing that it would be impossible to dissuade him at this point, "you can't let yourself be careless. I trust you, Link."

"All the more," Link finished, gently patting the top of her hand.

While they shared a tender moment within another active moment of discussion, the Hands were preparing to reveal yet another newcomer into their ranks.

"Quite the representation we've been getting, eh, Bro?" Luigi jested, lightly poking his older brother to the side with an elbow.

"We're not-a done yet, Luigi," Mario reminded, pointed back up to the stage where yet another new fighter is making his debut.

This next fighter was another swordsman, closely reminiscent to the Fire Emblem warriors. Clad in white armor with a bit of black segments, blue cape, lack of shoes, and wielding quite the crafted sword with fiery jagged sides, this fighter boldly took his stance in contrast to the previous two newcomers.

"I have decided to join Smash!" he declared. "That much, I know I won't hesitate in deciding."

"You heard it here!" Master Hand followed up. "Corrin chooses to Smash!"

"Another swordsman?" Falco snorted. "Well, I guess it must be time for me to get a sword to replace my blaster."

"You're not serious, are you?" Fox questioned.

"As if!" Falco continued.

The four Fire Emblem fighters within the crowd, as well as Roy on stage, observed this newcomer expectantly. Corrin was still a mysterious being to them, but in one way or another, he was promised to be an interesting Smasher for sure.

"Are you getting tired yet with all these announcements?" Master Hand asked wryly. "I can promise you one more new addition!"

"After much research and information gathering, we found another fighter that will likely boost up our reputation further worldwide," Crazy Hand explained, sounding as sensible as he could ever be.

"All of these new fighters is getting me itching for a battle with them right now, Lady Palutena!" Pit exclaimed.

"I think you're itching because you need a bath," Dark Pit quipped, inciting a giggle from Palutena nearby.

"Hey! Don't go stealing my lines now," Sonic reprimanded.

"Yeah! Though I could use a good hot spring soak, so I'll take that as my bath later," Pit countered thoughtfully. "Anyway, what Sonic said, it's already bad you've stolen my look."

"Or maybe you stole mine," Dark Pit replied drolly.

"Now, now, children," Palutena intervened playfully, coming in between the two bantering angels. "Let's just look out for the last Smasher challenger, okay?"

"Now I _know_ I made the right choice stopping by!" a refined, feminine voice echoed mysteriously throughout the hall. "A couple of angels ripe for the picking!"

"Who dares?!" Dark Pit beckoned, stepping up next to his light counterpart.

A sensation occurred in the high space between the audience and the stage. A flurry of bats from the darkness congregated together. In their place, a tall womanly figure dressed in fashionably black couture and quipped with guns on hand and on the backs of her heels descended to the ground.

Flashing out a few fabulous moves before backflipping onto the stage, perfectly behind Lucas, the woman flashed a seductive grin.

"Shall we dance?" she jibed.

"Oh me, oh my! What an entrance!" Master Hand introduced. "Bayonetta gets wicked!"

Loud cheers were certainly prominent among the male population. As for the female Smashers, there was a bit of a conflict of interest in regards to someone like the Umbra Witch joining them.

"She may have great taste in style, but those manners of hers are so atrocious," Peach commented disdainfully. "There are _children_ here! She's not a good influence on them!"

"Lighten up, Peach," Samus scolded. "I'm not too fond of the idea of her showing off like that either, but she is strong. I'll give her that."

"Huh?!" Peach gasped.

"More women Smashers are welcomed in my book," Samus continued. "I don't have to like or be friends with them. If they're worthy of respect, then it is what it is. And if I were you, the children's innocence would be the last thing to worry about with her."

Still confused on what the Chozo-raised bounty hunter was talking about, Peach was guided by Samus to look back onto the stage, where Bayonetta was showing a remarkably sweet side to Lucas, who in turn was quick to open up and smile to her despite having been surprised by her wicked entrance.

In addition, Samus directed Peach to look at Mario, who among other most of the male Smashers, were enchanted by Bayonetta's charms. While thinking of a way to get back at him, she happened to look over to where Zelda and Link were, discovering the latter having a large lump on his head and laying down on his stomach before Zelda's feet. The Princess of Hyrule held her nose high to the air, failing to pretend indifference.

"I can see that I've caused quite a bit of commotion with my presence," Bayonetta added, grinning casually. "But I'm here for those angels over there." Pit and Dark Pit stepped up in front of a slightly worried Palutena, forcing other Smashers near them to back away. They were just as eager to appease the challenge as the Umbra Witch was. "Anyone else, I also welcome the challenge since it looks like I'll be here for a while. Hope you don't mind."

She concluded her opening statement with a flirtatious wink, inciting more cat calls and wolf whistles from the male Smashers.

" _Despite their… eccentric personalities, they appear to be promising to appease my desire for powerful foes,_ " Mewtwo commented to himself.

Master Hand loudly cleared his disembodied voice, regaining control over everyone once more.

"And there you have it!" Master Hand concluded with him and Crazy Hand showcasing all the latest additions on stage, inciting one more round of applause. "And as a result of all of these Smashers joining us, I will be extending the team submission deadline for one more week so that all of you can figure out who you want in your teams, if any of you were lacking a fourth member, and so on."

"So go socialize and make friends!" Crazy Hand added.

"Meeting adjourned!" Master Hand announced.

Both Hands vanished from the stage, allowing Smashers to converse freely with one another while ushering the newer Smashers to join them. New teams were made and arranged.

The main team of this story has just found their fourth member as Lucas and Ness embraced each other in a brotherly hug with Villager and Toon Link watching the reunion of these PSI users fondly.

This foretold multi-member team tournament was certainly going to be promising.

* * *

 **I had this chapter finished for a while, but I purposely waited for the final Smash direct so that I could get all of the newest additions tied in cleanly. I personally like all of the new additions and have no preferences on who gets in, though if I were to be honest, the only one I wanted to return was Wolf.**

 **Ah, well.**

 **So yeah, I know this chapter is late to what's been going on as Lucas, Roy, and Ryu have been released for over half a year now, they haven't had their proper introductions here and I didn't want to randomly add them in (And if you haven't guessed, Lucas is going to be the fourth main character with Ness, Villager, and Toon Link. I have even changed the cover to reflect this now).**

 **Now it's them, with Cloud, Corrin, and Bayonetta as the newest Smashers with the latter two available February 2016 and Cloud available after the December Smash Direct.**

 **Please review!**

 **L-ater!**


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